Staff

A 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.…

 The 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.…

The 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…

The 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,…

Three 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 The mother had originally made a will dividing her estate equally between her four children.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…

Our 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…

A 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…

A 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…

ONE of the newest members of a top legal firm’s 100-strong team has spoken of his delight at joining the company. Nick Devlin, who along with wife Georgina has recently moved to Cumbria from East Anglia, says he had always hoped he would one day be a member of the Cartmell Shepherd family. He first got a taste of the business during a work placement week – and almost six…

The number of first-time home buyers has reached its highest level for 12 years. The latest mortgage data reveals that 35,010 people took their first step on the property ladder in August. That’s the highest monthly total since August 2007. The figures, from UK Finance, follow the Ministry of Housing’s own research revealing 87% of the public would prefer to buy rather than rent. It also found 57% of people…