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- Date:
- 17 December 2020
- Type:
- Commentary and insights
While the focus has been on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, HR professionals have still had their fair share of employment law cases to keep track of in 2020. We highlight seven noteworthy cases from 2020 that employers should know about.
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- Type:
- Employment law cases
In Crompton v Eden Private Staff Ltd, an employment tribunal found that jibes made by employees to a 57-year-old colleague about Alzheimer's and "senior moments" constituted harassment under the Equality Act 2010.
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- Type:
- Employment law cases
In Heskett v Secretary of State for Justice, the Court of Appeal confirmed that, while cost alone is not sufficient, the employer's need to reduce expenditure due to budgetary constraints imposed by the Government is a legitimate aim, and the discriminatory pay policy a proportionate means of achieving that aim.
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- Type:
- Employment law cases
In Broadist v HM Prison Service, an employment tribunal found that the employer's refusal to allow a semi-retired dog handler to remain working on a part-time basis with an alternative dog, after his dog had died, amounted to indirect age discrimination.
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- Type:
- Employment law cases
In Munro v Sampson Coward LLP, the employment tribunal held that an employer's act of sending a birthday card to an employee was "an act of kindness" and not an act of discrimination.
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- Type:
- Employment law cases
In Kirk v Citibank NA and others, an employment tribunal held that a senior banker who was dismissed following a redundancy process was subjected to direct age discrimination and unfairly dismissed.
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- Type:
- Employment law cases
In Heskett v Secretary of State for Justice, the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the tribunal decision that a discriminatory pay policy is justified as a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aims identified by the Ministry of Justice.
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- Type:
- Employment law cases
In Pitcher v Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford and another, an employment tribunal held that Oxford University's "employer-justified retirement age" for academics is a proportionate means of achieving its legitimate aims.
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- Type:
- Employment law cases
In Lord Chancellor and another v McCloud and others; Ministry of Justice v Mostyn and others; Secretary of State for the Home Department and others v Sargeant and others, the Court of Appeal held that the Government's view that "it felt right" to protect older workers with transitional provisions when making changes to pensions for judges and firefighters was insufficient to defend direct age discrimination claims.
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- Type:
- Employment law cases
In Matier v Spring & Airbrake Ireland Ltd, a Northern Ireland industrial tribunal awarded £3,155 for age discrimination to a jobseeker who was told that a prospective employer was "looking for a younger person".