Employment disputes
A black prison officer who was subjected to "a campaign of appalling treatment" over a period of almost two years is awarded compensation of £28,500, including a record £21,000 for injury to feelings, by a London South industrial tribunal (Chair: E R Donnelly) in Johnson v (1) Armitage (2) Marsden (3) HM Prison Service.
In British Aerospace plc v Green, the Court of Appeal considers the guiding principles for ordering discovery of marked assessment forms in cases where redundant employees claim that they were unfairly selected.
An industrial tribunal is not entitled to exclude members of the public (including the press) from the hearing of a sexual harassment case when the evidence to be given is of a sensitive or salacious nature, the Divisional Court has ruled in R v Southampton Industrial Tribunal ex parte INS News Group.
In addition to awarding £2,500 for injury to feelings, a Manchester industrial tribunal (Chair: C Porter) in Ruizo v (1) Tesco Stores Ltd and (2) Lea awards a further £1,500 aggravated damages for the employer's lack of contrition and continuing failure to address or alleviate the problem of racial abuse.
In Hunt v Secretary of State for Defence a London (South) industrial tribunal (Chair: T J Mason) doubts whether it is right to follow the "chance" approach to assessing past loss suggested by the EAT in the Cannock decision.
In Campbell v Datum Engineering Co Ltd a Birmingham industrial tribunal recommends that a firm found to have unlawfully discriminated on grounds of race should take steps such as introducing a formal racial harassment procedure, providing recruitment training for all managers and giving consideration to the eradication of pay anomalies in order to avoid future race claims.
A race discrimination claim presented outside the statutory time limit because of a mistake by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) could be considered, rules a Birmingham industrial tribunal (Chair: J G Haslam) in Gill v Hereford & Worcester County Council.
In Automotive and Financial Group Ltd v Bark the EAT has held that a compensation award of £2,000 for injury to feelings to a trainee salesperson, who was dismissed after she was sexually harassed, fell within the bracket of permissible awards.
In a number of recent cases, the EAT has considered the approach industrial tribunals should take when considering reducing unfair dismissal compensation on the grounds that the unfairness was due only to "procedural" failures.
In Patel and Harewood v T & K Home Improvements Ltd and Johnson a Bedford industrial tribunal (Chair: C Tribe) awards aggravated damages against an employer who treated workplace notices which contained racially abusive material as a joke during tribunal proceedings and did not offer an apology to the complainants.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to employment disputes.