A manager who refused to take a "for cause" drug test was fairly dismissed because his employer was entitled to expect him to set an example for other staff, according to an employment tribunal.
Georgina Kyriacou and David Malamentenios are partners and Melissa Powys-Rogrigues, Sandra Martins, Colin Makin and Krishna Santra are associates at Colman Coyle Solicitors. They round up the latest rulings.
In Stevenson v JM Skinner & Co EAT/0584/07, the EAT held that an employer complied with its statutory duty to carry out a risk assessment in relation to a pregnant employee when it addressed her concerns at meetings with her and, taking account of all the circumstances, evaluated and agreed the relevant risks.
Where an employee is experiencing stress related to excessive workloads, the presence of a workplace counselling service will not automatically serve to discharge the employer's duty of care in stress claims.
In New Southern Railway Ltd v Quinn [2006] IRLR 606 EAT, the Employment Appeal Tribunal holds that an employer's duty to take steps to "avoid" risk to a pregnant woman means that the risk should be reduced to its lowest acceptable level - not that it must be removed completely.
In Bunning v G T Bunning & Sons Ltd, the Court of Appeal holds that the tribunal was correct to find the employer in breach of its obligation to carry out a risk assessment for a pregnant worker under reg.16 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
In Hardman v Mallon, t/a Orchard Lodge Nursing Home, the EAT holds that a failure to carry out a risk assessment in respect of a pregnant employee as required by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 amounts to unlawful sex discrimination. This is because carrying out a risk assessment is one of the ways in which a woman's biological condition during and after pregnancy is given special protection.