Equality, diversity and human rights
In R (on the application of AR) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and another, the Supreme Court held that, although the disclosure of the appellant's acquittal for rape was an interference with his human rights, it was justified. However, the Court expressed concern at the lack of guidance for employers on how to deal with disclosures of serious criminal charges that result in acquittals.
In South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust v Lee and others, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that a decision to withdraw a job offer that was at least partially influenced by a reference that focused on the applicant's sickness absence levels was discriminatory.
In Gray v Mulberry Company (Design) Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that a tribunal had been entitled to conclude, on the particular facts, that a belief in the importance of copyright ownership lacked sufficient cogency to qualify as a philosophical belief.
In Unite the Union v Nailard, the Court of Appeal held that the union was liable for the acts of its lay officials because they were acting as its agents, but that the union was not liable for failures by its employed union officials to prevent discrimination by third-party lay officials.
In Davies v Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, an employment tribunal upheld the unfair dismissal and disability discrimination claims of a court officer whose menopausal symptoms led to an incident in which she thought her medication had contaminated a water jug.
In City of York Council v Grosset, the Court of Appeal held that the dismissal of a teacher for showing an 18-rated film to his pupils amounted to discrimination arising from his disability, even though the school had not been aware that the teacher's conduct was linked to his disability.
In Bakkali v Greater Manchester Buses (South) Ltd t/a Stage Coach Manchester, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that asking a Muslim employee whether or not he supported IS did not amount to harassment because, given the context, the offending comment was not "related to" his religious belief or race.
In Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police and another, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) remitted to a fresh tribunal the issue of whether or not a police force's policy of giving a period of full pay to mothers on maternity leave, but paying only statutory shared parental pay to partners, is indirectly discriminatory.
In Capita Customer Management Ltd v Ali and another, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the failure to pay a father shared parental pay at the same rate as an employee on maternity leave is not sex discrimination.
In Air Products plc v Cockram, the Court of Appeal held that the employment tribunal was correct to find that a rule in a long-term incentive share plan that employees whose employment terminates before they are 55 forfeit all unvested awards under the plan is justified.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to equality, diversity and human rights.