Hello and welcome to this week’s case of the week. This week, we will be looking at whether a company policy that requires employees to remove their hijabs is discriminatory. This is an EU law case. We are no longer in the EU, so this law is no longer binding in our courts, but nevertheless [...]
Christian Actor Sacked Because of Allegedly Homophobic Facebook Post Introduction Hello and welcome to our weekly case law update. Today’s case concerns an actress who was sacked because of an allegedly homophobic Facebook post. Facts Seyi Omooba was an actor represented by Global Artists. In 2019, she landed the lead role in the play ‘The [...]
Good morning and welcome back to your weekly case law update. Last week was our monthly employment law update that had features on sexual harassment, Tribunal delays, PILON and vegan whistleblowing. Prior to that, our previous case law update concerned limitation dates and tribunal procedure, a thrilling affair for those looking to fill some time […]
In further guidance news, ACAS has released religion and belief guidance. This guidance gives examples of how certain workplace situations; recruitment, discussing religion at work, changing facilities, food, fasting, observing religious events etc. interact with the Equality Act 2010. The guidance doesn’t say much new but is the latest guidance that employment tribunals will use to decide […]
This case is about race discrimination and religious discrimination. This case particularly relates to direct discrimination and harassment. For any of the protected characteristics, direct discrimination is defined in Section 13 of the Equality Act 2010 as a person discriminates against another if, because of a protected characteristic, a person is treated less favourably than […]
The Football Association isn’t the only organisation to suffer a reputational blow this month. Tech giant, Google, a predominantly left-leaning firm, caused a stir when one of its engineers circled a ten-page memo about the issue of gender equality and why women were genetically less suited to tech and leadership roles. The memo states that women are […]
Last month we did a guide to warm weather working. Additionally, this summer has seen two major sporting events which can lead to higher levels of leave, and, some employers have an increased amount of Bank Holidays in this holiday year. With that in mind and a Bank Holiday looming on the horizon, we thought it would be a […]
A report by the Women and Equalities Committee has found that Muslim women are three times less likely to be in work due to the perceived triple penalty of being a women, a Muslim and being BAME. Religion is believed to be the main cause due to a rise in Islamophobia in society as a whole. This […]
Every month we bring you an employment law related story that somehow gets swept up in the imperfect storm that is tabloid journalism. This month’s story is so sensationalist it may even result in the Daily Mail being able to describe celebrities’ legs as something other than pins! In a recent Sun headline, Angela Gibbins, Head […]
Our next case is about religion/belief discrimination and asks: Can a belief that public money is being wasted be discriminated against? Mr Harron, the Claimant, worked for Dorset Police, the Respondent. The Claimant believed that public service was improperly wasteful of money which he felt resulted in him being discriminated against. At a preliminary hearing […]
Conduct of staff isn’t the only headache that employers face when organising the Christmas party. Every year we get asked questions so we thought we would get ahead of the game. 1. Do I need a policy statement for Christmas parties? Many employers issue a policy statement that relates to staff conduct at work socials, if […]
Hello again, we hope you enjoyed the bank holiday despite the gloomy weather. This week’s case is about religious discrimination and is one of the most straightforward cases we’ve covered, however, there are still lessons to be learned for employers. The question this week is: Can a health and safety policy be indirectly discriminatory? Ms […]
Looking back at the last week, my employment news highlight comes from comments made by David Cameron at PM’s Question Time. He commented that he ‘fully supported the right of people to wear religious symbols at work, I think it is absolutely a vital religious freedom’. This is particularly interesting given that the case of […]
