Employment tribunals and courts
In Dunnachie v Kingston upon Hull City Council, the Court of Appeal holds that the comments by Lord Hoffmann in Johnson v Unisys, to the effect that the interpretation of (what is now) s.123 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 given in Norton Tool Co Ltd v Tewson was too narrow in limiting unfair dismissal compensation to economic losses, were obiter and did not bind the Court in the present case.
In Virgo Fidelis School v Boyle [2004] IRLR 268 EAT, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that awards of compensation for injury to feelings in whistleblowing cases should be based on the guidelines set out by the Court of Appeal in Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2003] IRLR 102 for race and sex discrimination cases.
In Laing Ltd v Essa, the Court of Appeal holds that an employee who suffered unlawful race discrimination which caused him psychiatric injury was entitled to recover compensation for that injury provided he could establish that the discrimination caused the damage.
A review of recent significant cases on practice and procedure in the employment tribunals and the EAT.
This week's case round-up from Eversheds, covering: on-call hours; and statutory sick pay.
Our resident experts at Pinsents bring you a comprehensive update on all the latest decisions that could affect your organisation, and advice on what to do about them.
In Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police (No.2), the Court of Appeal holds that an employment tribunal was entitled to award £165,000 for future loss of earnings to a probationer police constable who suffered sex discrimination, culminating in her dismissal at the age of 30, two years after her appointment.
In Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA (in liquidation) v Ali and others (No.3), the Court of Appeal holds that, where a claimant alleges that stigma resulting from his or her previous employment affected his or her employment prospects, it was for him or her to prove that the stigma had a real or substantial effect on his or her obtaining employment.
In Wilding v British Telecommunications plc, the Court of Appeal upholds a decision by an employment tribunal that, by refusing an offer of part-time re-employment, an employee who had been unfairly dismissed and discriminated against on the ground of his disability had thereby failed to mitigate his loss.
In Zaiwalla & Co and another v Walia the EAT holds that an employment tribunal which upheld an employee's complaint of sex discrimination was entitled to award aggravated damages of £7,500 to reflect the fact that the employer conducted its defence of the tribunal proceedings in a manner deliberately designed to be intimidatory and threatening, and to cause the maximum distress to the employee.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to employment tribunals and courts.