The Employment Tribunal (ET) awarded a gay headteacher, Matthew Aplin, over £696,000 in compensation after he successfully brought a claim for unfair dismissal and sexual-orientation discrimination. The headteacher was dismissed by his employer Tywyn Primary School following an investigation that found Mr Aplin had sex with two 17-year old boys at his home. Mr Aplin … Read more
Article 8(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) states “everyone has a right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence”. Article 8(2) says there shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law … Read more
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has updated its guidance on timescales for responding to data subject individual rights requests. The guidance makes clear that, when calculating the one-month period for response, the day of receipt is day one rather than the day after receipt. How long do you have to comply with a request? You … Read more
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld the decision of the Employment Tribunal to find that a GP registered with CBCH, a company providing out-of-hours services to the NHS, was a worker under section 230(3)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The Employment Tribunal had found that the doctor was a worker despite the fact that … Read more
On 6th August the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal from 6th March 2018 in the case of Brazel v The Harper Trust. The Court of Appeal considered whether the holiday entitlement of part-year workers on permanent contracts should be prorated to that of full year workers to reflect the … Read more
Mr Forbes worked as a security officer for LHR Airport Ltd (LHRA). One of his colleagues was Ms Deborah Stevens who worked in a similar capacity. On an unspecified date prior to 6 November 2016, Ms Stevens shared an image of a golliwog on her Facebook page, accompanied by the message “Let’s see how far … Read more
In accordance with the Working Time Directive workers are entitled to at least four weeks’ annual holiday. This is extended by 1.6 weeks as a result of the Working Time Regulations 1998 to give a worker a total of 5.6 weeks’ annual leave. This raises the question of whether employers should allow carry over of … Read more
The court of appeal has confirmed that suspension of an employee is to be treated like any other alleged breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. Does the employers conduct, without reasonable and proper cause, destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence? This was confirmed in The Mayor & … Read more
Background Mr Aplin was an openly gay Headteacher at Tywyn Primary School. He was suspended by the school on 1 September 2015 after they were notified that Mr Aplin had consensual sexual intercourse with two 17-year-old boys after meeting them through an internet dating website. The website required joining individuals to certify that they are … Read more
Ms De Groen was employed as a teacher in a Jewish nursery. The nursery was run by Gan Menachem Hendon Ltd in accordance with ultra-orthodox Chabad principles. At a barbeque where parents were present, the teacher’s boyfriend revealed that they lived together which was against the beliefs of ultra-orthodox Jews. The teacher was dismissed after … Read more
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