At an internal staff awards ceremony, a male, Muslim teaching assistant was awarded the Christmas Grinch Prize. He later brought an employment tribunal claim against the school for religious discrimination. Salah Toughfar claimed he was “upset and distressed” after being compared to a character with such negative connotations, despite him being unaware of the Christmas-associated creature until a colleague showed him a description. He had previously received the Prankster Award, which he didn’t complain about, although he wasn’t pleased as the connotations associated with a Prankster are troub ..read more

A humanitarian aid charity called Human Relief Foundation has been ordered to pay an ex-employee £31,000 following an unfair dismissal complaint. Background to Whistleblowing What is whistleblowing? You are a whistleblower if you are a worker and you report wrongdoing. The wrongdoing you disclose must be in the public interest and therefore must affect others. If you report the wrongdoing, you are protected by law and should not be treated unfairly or lose your job as a result of making the protected disclosure or ‘blowing the whistle’. You can raise a concern at any time about an incident tha ..read more

The Claimant, David Miller, was employed by The University of Bristol in 2018 as a professor of Political Sociology. The Employment Tribunal found that the Claimants ‘anti-Zionist’ beliefs qualified as ‘philosophical belief and a protected characteristic’. Furthermore, it was found that the Claimant was subject to direct discrimination due to the university’s decision to dismiss the Claimant and to reject a subsequent appeal. On 18 February 2019, Mr Miller delivered a lecture on Islamophobia in which he theorised that Islamaphobia in the United Kingdom was driven in significant part by five ‘p ..read more

The employment tribunal has ruled that the Claimant’s claim of direct race discrimination, racial harassment and victimisation was successful in D Pile-Grey v Ministry of Defence. The tribunal has not yet published the amount of damages awarded. Mr Pile-Gray was one of the first Rastafarian guardsmen and had a career in the army stretching over 16 years. However, the Army career was brought to an end following a row with a guard. The guard accused Mr Pile-Gray of using the ‘race card’. Mr. Pile-Gray stated that during his time in the Army, he would be asked questions about his appearance by ot ..read more

A warehouse worker had his employment terminated after a colleague discovered a video on social media where the Claimant had been accused of ‘grooming’ an underage girl. Mr Cooper, the Claimant’s colleague, carried out a search of the Claimant on social media in January 2021. The search revealed a video and photograph headed: ‘The Hunted One’. In the video, the Claimant is accused by two men of driving one and a half hours from his home to meet a 14-year-old girl that he had been exchanging messages with. Mr. Cooper subsequently forwarded the video to the Claimant’s direct line manager, Mr. Wi ..read more

In the recent case of Parsons v International Forest Products (UK) Limited, the tribunal held that Ms Jowita Parsons (“the Claimant”) claims for unfair dismissal, indirect discrimination and pregnancy and maternity discrimination against International Forest Products (UK) Limited (“the Respondent”) should be dismissed. The Claimant was employed by the Respondent as an import coordinator from 4th March 2019 until 11th February 2022. On 27th August 2019, the Claimant formally notified the Respondent that she was pregnant and that she would be taking maternity leave. Following this, the Responden ..read more

In the recent case of Miss Amanda Fischer v London United Busways Limited [2300846/2021], the tribunal heard claims relating to the use of slurs in the workplace and whether they were gender specific, which were pleaded as gender reassignment discrimination. Miss Amanda Fischer (the Claimant) was engaged by the Respondent (London United Busways Limited) as an agency bus driver from November 2020 until her termination on 16 January 2021. The Claimant alleged that she was treated less favourably as a result of her protected characteristic of gender reassignment. She claimed that there were 3 act ..read more

Does a disagreement over a venue for a work Christmas party amount to discriminatory conduct? No held the tribunal in the recent case of Mrs C Palladino v Reed in Partnership Ltd. In the case, the Claimant (Mrs C Palladino) worked for the Respondent (Reed in Partnership Ltd) as an HR advisor. At the time in question, the Claimant was aged 45 and was the second eldest at the Respondents, with the remaining staff being in their 20s. In 2021, when organising a work Christmas party, the Claimant suggested the venue, Willow Farm Village, which is mainly for children and families, but could also be ..read more

Ms Jiang Ping (the Claimant) worked as a Senior Manager in a part-time role at the Respondent (James Duran’s & Sons Ltd) and has recently been successful in a claim for sex discrimination and victimisation after being denied a pay rise due to her husband’s salary. The Claimant commenced employment with the Respondent in 1998. In 2016 she reduced her hours to part-time where it was agreed that she would work 5 days a month for an annual salary of £16,356, and if she worked any extra hours, she would be paid overtime. From 2016 – 2021, the Claimant worked overtime for which she received addi ..read more

In the case of Lovingangels Care Ltd v Mhindurwa [2023] EAT 65, the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the decision of the Tribunal that it was unfair to dismiss Mrs Mhindurwa (‘the Claimant’) from her role as a live-in carer by reason of redundancy when they had not fully considered Furlough as an alternative. The Claimant was employed by Lovingangels Care Ltd (‘the Respondent’) as a live-in carer. The individual that the Claimant cared for went into hospital meaning that she no longer had anyone to take care of. Normally, the Claimant would have been moved onto another client, however, this w ..read more