Michael Fallon resigns but is not necessarily guilty of sexual harassment

September 17, 2019November 2, 2017 by

Michael Fallon resigns as Defence Secretary, following an allegation of sexual harassment, his resignation letter states that “in the past” his behaviour “had fallen below the high standards that we require of the Armed Forces”. The Allegation Whilst there may be other allegations of harassment in the swirl of accusations, denials and apologies circling around Westminster as part of the list of 40 MPs including 15 Ministers who are deemed …

Case Study: Uplift of injury to feelings awards in discrimination cases

September 17, 2019October 11, 2017 by

The Court of Appeal has recently provided clarification as to whether uplifts in damages should be applied to injury to feelings awards in Employment Tribunal discrimination cases. The personal injury case of Simmons vs Castle provides authority for an uplift to damages of 10% in certain types of personal injury claims. The increase in compensation in personal injury claims was ordered by the Court of Appeal to compensate claimants for …

Time off for religious observance

September 17, 2019October 9, 2017 by

There is no legal right to time off for religious duties, prayer, worship and festivals. That said, employees who have been refused time off for religious festivals have brought successful claims in employment tribunals for religious discrimination where there has not been a legitimate business reason behind the refusal. Muslim employees in a Tesco store won a case for harassment when they claimed that the prayer room that they had …

Case Study: Older employee told “better suited to traditional agency”

September 17, 2019October 7, 2017 by

The recently reported case of Gomes v Henworth Limited and another. The Claimant had been employed since 2009 by an estate agent as an Administrative Assistant. During a conversation about alleged shortcomings with her work (errors in a letter that was sent out). The tribunal found that the second Respondent, Mr Graham Gold, had said that she would be “better suited to a traditional agency”. That comment, along with suggestions …

Cohabitees and others not protected by marriage discrimination

June 9, 2021October 4, 2017 by

Originally conceived to prevent women from being dismissed upon marrying, marriage discrimination now prevents those who are married or civil partners from being subjected to any type of discrimination. Section 8 of the Equality Act 2010 does not protect: single people; people who live together; the divorced or those whose civil partnerships have been dissolved; Engaged couples. Who is not protected? People who are not married or civil partners are …

When does protection from discrimination start?

September 17, 2019September 27, 2017 by

Unlike some other areas of employment law, there is no qualifying period for the protection from discrimination. Not only is discrimination unlawful from the very first day in employment, protection starts from the moment a person applies for a job.

Protected Characteristics: What are they?

September 17, 2019September 26, 2017 by

The Equality Act 2010 protects employees and job applicants from being subjected to discrimination (less favourable treatment). It makes it unlawful to treat a person, or group of people, differently or subject them to harassment on the grounds of certain defined areas.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

June 9, 2021September 26, 2017 by

Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual behaviour which either violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them. Sexual harassment also describes situations in which people are treated less favourably because they either submit to or reject sexual conduct. Harassment may be verbal, non-verbal or physical Verbal: Name calling with a sexual theme, comments about appearance and attractiveness, questions about sex life, comments and …

Harassment in the Workplace

September 17, 2019September 20, 2017 by

Definition of harassment The Equality Act 2010 defines harassment at Section 26 as follows: A person (A) harasses another (B) if A engages in unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic which has the purpose or effect of either: Violating B’s dignity, or Creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for B. Please note that sexual harassment has a further definition relating to rejection or submission of …

Redundancy could be banned to new mothers

February 2, 2021January 31, 2017 by

Redundancy could be banned for new mothers

A recent report by the Women and Equalities Committee, is calling for better protection from discrimination for new mothers. If new proposals go ahead, pregnant women and new mothers may be given better protection from redundancy at work. Following a report published by the Women and Equalities Committee, earlier this year, a redundancy ban for all pregnant women, new mothers and for up to 6 months after returning to work following …