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.
In NH v Associazione Avvocatura per i diritti LGBTI, the European Court of Justice held that a senior lawyer's comments on a radio programme that he would not wish to recruit homosexual people fell within the scope of the Equal Treatment Framework Directive (2000/78/EC) even though his firm was not recruiting, or planning to recruit, at the time.
In Allen v Paradigm Precision Burnley Ltd and another, an employment tribunal found that homophobic comments made by colleagues to to a gay employee amounted to sexual orientation harassment.
In Governing Body of Sutton Oak Church of England Primary School and others v Whittaker, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that an employment tribunal failed to identify an appropriate hypothetical comparator when deciding that a gay teacher's dismissal for inappropriate meetings with a pupil constituted sexual orientation discrimination.
In Governing Body of Tywyn Primary School v Aplin, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld a headteacher's constructive dismissal and sexual orientation discrimination claims after his school mishandled disciplinary action over his lawful sexual activities with two 17-year-olds he met through Grindr.