Equality, diversity and human rights
A pregnant employee of a ferry company, who was suspended from working on board ship in accordance with Regulations precluding those with specified medical conditions, including pregnancy, from working at sea, suffered direct sex discrimination when she did not receive full pay during the period of her suspension, holds the EAT in P&O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd and another v Iverson.
In McGuigan v TG Baynes & Sons, the EAT holds that an employee suffered unlawful direct sex discrimination when her employer failed to consult her over her impending redundancy on the ground, among others, that she was absent on maternity leave - a pregnancy-related reason.
In Day v T Pickles Farms Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) says that an employer should not wait for written notification of an employee's pregnancy before carrying out a risk assessment, and that its failure to carry out an assessment may have caused the employee detriment within the provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
In Abbey National plc v Formoso, the EAT rejects an employment tribunal's "reasonable employer" approach to calculating the financial loss flowing from a discriminatory dismissal.
The Chief Constable of the constabulary to which police officers were originally appointed remained vicariously liable for acts of sex discrimination committed by his officers while they were on secondment to branches of the Regional Crime Squad, holds the EAT in Chief Constable of the Lincolnshire Constabulary v Stubbs and others.
In Day v T Pickles Farms Ltd, the EAT holds that an employer who failed to make an assessment of the risks to the health and safety of a woman of child-bearing age employed in a sandwich shop no later than the date she started working there, and certainly before she became pregnant, could thereby have subjected her to a "detriment" within the meaning of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
In Ahmed and others v United Kingdom [1999] IRLR 188 ECHR, the European Court of Human Rights held that the Local Government Officers (Political Restrictions) Regulations 1990 did not breach the European Convention on Human Rights, since the interference with the employees' rights had been shown to be 'prescribed by law', in pursuance of one or more legitimate aims within the meaning of Article 10(2) of the Convention and was 'necessary in a democratic society' to attain them.
A white woman who left her job with a vehicle rental company because she objected to its policy of not hiring vehicles to black people was herself the victim of unlawful race discrimination, holds the Court of Appeal in Weathersfield Ltd (t/a Van & Truck Rentals) v Sargent.
A contractual term which requires a woman to undertake to return to work on the expiry of her maternity leave or otherwise to repay any amounts paid to her by her employer over and above statutory maternity pay during that period, does not contravene the equal pay principle contained in Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome and the Equal Pay Directive, rules the European Court of Justice in Boyle and others v Equal Opportunities Commission.
In Handels- og Kontorfunktionaerernes Forbund i Danmark (acting on behalf of Pedersen) v Faellesforeningen for Danmarks Brugsforeninger (acting on behalf of Kvickly Skive), the European Court of Justice rules that certain provisions of Danish law which permit the less favourable treatment in terms of pay of pregnant workers who are incapable of work due to a pregnancy-related illness prior to the commencement of their maternity leave contravene Article 119 and the Equal Pay Directive.
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