Tag Archives: victimisation

The trouble with the reluctant complainant (UK)

It has been annual review season here at Squire Patton Boggs.  Looking back over my efforts this year in the usual endeavour to justify my own existence, I have spotted the same scenario cropping up with unusual frequency.  An employee tells their employer that they have experienced something at work that they are not too … Continue Reading

Keeping it real – the quest for reason in whistleblowing cases (UK)

In earlier posts on this blog you will find a handful of cases which consider the distinction between the fact of a protected whistle-blowing disclosure and the manner of it.  Accepted wisdom, thanks in part to the unimprovable words of then Mr Justice Underhill in Martin -v-Devonshires Solicitors here is that an employer can in … Continue Reading

Mission Impossible? – Hospital’s obligations to cure dying relationship

Akinwunmi – v – Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust is the perfect example of when employment law reaches the limits of its usefulness in HR practice. For a fuller description of the facts, see Chris Lynn’s blog. For our purposes, however, Dr Akinwunmi fell out with five of his neurosurgeon colleagues over alleged … Continue Reading

Context or causation – the role of race in unfavourable treatment

Statutory construction can be a bit like nuclear fusion – you take an atom of something relatively ordinary and then subject it to such pressure that it explodes into a million flaming pieces and lays waste to your entire afternoon.   Employment Tribunals and Courts do the same to words, taking perfectly mundane sentences and phrases … Continue Reading

Yes, but what if they stay? – the aftermath of covertly recording your colleagues

Some thorny issues for employers arise from the reported settlement last week of a sexual discrimination and harassment claim brought against Goldman Sachs by Sonia Pereiro-Mendez. This case hit the news not because of the nature of her allegations (big City house treats pregnant woman as suddenly of much less value – all relatively usual … Continue Reading

Breaking up is hard to do

The press coverage of England’s Euro 2012 team continues to be dominated by Rio Ferdinand’s omission from the England squad and the inclusion of his former centre-back partner John Terry. The controversy surrounds the fact that in December, Terry was charged by the Police with making racist comments to Ferdinand’s brother. Roy Hodgson, the England … Continue Reading
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