May 2009 Archives - Employment Law Advocates

Christmas and New Year Office Closure

01-Dec-2011 / Employment Law Advocates / Comments Off

Our office will be closing for the holiday period at 12.00pm on Friday 23rd December 2011 and will reopen again until 10.00am on Tuesday 3rd January 2012. Advocates will be mostly unavailable but may have intermittent access to email or telephone during this period. If you are an existing client, please contact your Advocate directly by email or telephone. If you are a new client or are seeking advice, please email info@employmentlawadvocates.com or complete the enquiry form on our Contact Us page ...

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Women have never had it so good?

31-May-2009 / Rad Kohanzad / 1 Comment

In today's Observer, Sir Stuart Rose, the CEO of M&S,¬† is quoted as saying that women "have never had it so good" and that "Apart from the fact that you've got more equality than you ever can deal with, the fact of the matter is that you've got real democracy and there really are no glass ceilings, despite the fact that some of you moan about it all the time. "Women can get to the top of any single job that ...

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Mitigating Malcolm

29-May-2009 / James Medhurst / No Comments

The barristers' chambers Cloisters¬†is publicising the case of Fareham College v Walters, in which it was held that an employer who dismisses an employee, having failed to make reasonable adjustments, is liable for disability discrimination. This gives a new angle for claimants who¬†are prevented by Lewisham v Malcolm from arguing that¬†a dismissal constitutes disability-related discrimination. The result is not¬†all that¬†surprising as it seems to flow from the reasoning of the Lords in Archibald v Fife¬†but I have no doubt I ...

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My day in the Employment Appeal Tribunal

28-May-2009 / James Medhurst / No Comments

The regular readers of this blog will remember this post¬†back in March in which I discussed a TUPE case that I have been running at the Employment Appeal Tribunal. I can confirm that the hearing took place yesterday in front of Judge Hand QC.¬†I¬†coped well¬†with some¬†difficult questions¬†from him¬†but judgment was reserved so it will be a few weeks before the outcome is known. I am sure that it is going to be a reportable case and I shall provide a ...

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Political opinion

25-May-2009 / James Medhurst / No Comments

Last week, the House of Lords ruled in the case of McConkey v The Simon Community, concerning the Northern Irish law against discrimination on the grounds of political opinion. Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, with whom three other Law Lords¬†agreed, held that¬†a statutory exclusion of political opinions¬†supporting the¬†use of¬†violence meant that it would be wrong to construe the meaning of "political opinion" so that such opinions would not even get over the first hurdle. To do so¬†would make the statutory exception ...

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Dark law – Motives for unfair dismissal Part 3

22-May-2009 / James Medhurst / No Comments

Like dark matter, dark law is not¬†possible to¬†observe directly but its existence can be detected¬†by the gravitational forces that it exerts on visible law, which¬†are not always straightforward. Sometimes it appears as a negative, as in the case of Mercy v Northgate, which is authority for the proposition that¬†a tribunal¬†is not required to find bad faith in order to conclude that a¬†redundancy consultation is unfair. The question remains, however, why the tribunal accepted such a submission in the first place ...

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