Minority shareholder stops company issuing new shares
December 9th 2019A minority shareholder has been granted an interim injunction preventing a company from issuing new shares and loan notes. The applicant in the case had a minority shareholding in Brickvest Ltd (2019). There was a shareholders’ agreement specifying that certain matters required the applicant’s written consent, including the allotment of shares. The applicant sought an injunction preventing Brickvest from issuing new shares and loan notes, which it was planning on…
Financial adviser unfairly dismissed after ‘spurious allegations’
December 6th 2019A financial adviser was unfairly dismissed after his employer put unreasonable pressure on him to extend a restrictive covenant. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving Peter Ward, who worked as a financial planning provider for Fiducia Comprehensive Financial Planning from 2009-2018. In May 2018, Ward resigned from the company and gave his three months’ notice, stating that he intended to spend more time with…
Landlord entitled to evict disabled tenant over anti-social behaviour
December 4th 2019A housing association was entitled to evict a disabled tenant even though it had failed to comply with its public sector equality duty (PSED) under the Equality Act 2010. That was the decision of the Court of Appeal in a case involving Aldwyck Housing Group Ltd. One of its tenants, who was physically disabled, had been given a formal warning about the anti-social behaviour of various visitors to his flat.…
Mulberry wins confidentiality agreement dispute with employee
December 2nd 2019The fashion house Mulberry has successfully defended a discrimination claim from a former employee who was dismissed after refusing to sign a confidentiality agreement. The case involved designer Anna Gray, who had access to some of Mulberry’s designs ahead of their launch to market. She was dismissed after she refused to sign a confidentiality agreement. Mulberry believed that by refusing to sign, she intended to copy some of its products.…
Court upholds woman’s second will despite her dementia
November 28th 2019The High Court has declared that an 86-year-old woman’s will was valid even though she suffered from dementia at the time she made it. The case involved a family dispute between two brothers and two sisters. Their mother had died in 2015, aged 86. She had made a will in 2010 leaving her house to one of the brothers. However, she then made a second will in 2011 declaring that…
Employers wrong to dismiss worker who could not take on a full-time role
November 25th 2019The Employment Tribunal has ruled that an employee was unfairly dismissed after her company diluted her job share arrangement and created new roles that were only available to full-time workers. The case involved an employee of Capita Customer Management Limited named Mrs J McBride. She worked as head of quality and compliance before taking maternity leave in April 2015. She returned to work two years later and resumed her duties,…
Brothers fail to overturn their mother’s will leaving estate to sister
November 20th 2019Three brothers have failed in their bid to overturn their mother’s will, which left nearly all her estate to their sister. The mother had originally made a will dividing her estate equally between her four children. However, her views changed after her health began to deteriorate in 2009 and her daughter came to live with her as her carer until she died in 2016. The brothers offered only limited help…
Trainee solicitor selected to represent Hospice at Home at the London Marathon
November 19th 2019Our second year trainee solicitor Andrew Campbell has been selected to represent the Hospice at Home at the London Marathon! Andrew has agreed to share his training journey as he prepares for the big day on 26th April 2020. Ever since I found out I would be competing in the London marathon I have experienced a range of different emotions. A sense of achievement to be raising money for such a…
Worker was discriminated against due to his ‘perceived religion’
November 18th 2019A Royal Mail worker was a victim of racial discrimination even though the comments made towards him were not specifically about his own religion. That was the ruling of the Employment Tribunal at a recent hearing involving Mr Shunmugaraja, who was a manager at the Royal Mail Cardiff depot. He described himself as a Hindu of British-Indian origin. One of his workers, Mr Brown, refused to complete various tasks, and…
Developer overturns covenant preventing offices becoming homes
November 14th 2019A developer has succeeded in overturning a restrictive covenant that would have prevented an office block being converted into homes. The block was next to other office buildings and close to several apartment blocks. The head lease was for a term of 150 years from 1985 and contained a covenant restricting its use to office premises. The local authority, which owned the building, was entitled to 15.5% of the net…
