Managers at Germany’s second largest bank, Commerzbank, are facing the prospect of having to find £42million after Mr Justice Owen, sitting in the High Court in London, held that 104 former City bankers at Dresdner Kleinwort are each entitled to bonus payments of up to £1.3million each. The Bank claimed to be entitled to withhold…
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has considered the employment status of a lap dancer, Nadine Quashie, who worked at a Stringfellows club. She had made a claim for unfair dismissal, which had been rejected by an employment tribunal on the ground that she was not an employee and therefore not entitled to claim. Overturning this decision,…
Two cases this month look at the question of costs orders. Rogers v Dorothy Barley School was an unsuccessful breach of contract claim brought by a school caretaker. Representing himself, he alleged that the school were in breach of contract when he received a water bill, in error, in respect of the house he occupied…
Horwood v Lincoln County Council is a useful reminder that although the parties to a contract can, between them, agree to change the end date of a contract, bringing it forward and or putting it back, that cannot displace the effective date of termination as defined in the Employment Rights Act 1996 s. 97, which…
The provision of the Equality Act 2010 reversing the burden of proof in discrimination claims (section 136) means that if a claimant can show facts which could amount to discrimination, then a tribunal must find for him or her, unless the employer can show that there was another explanation for those facts. In Dziedziak v…
Brennan & Others v (1) Sunderland City Council (2) GMB (3) Unison is a case arising from somewhat unusual circumstances, but the decision is one of relevance in many more situations. It is part of the long running equal pay saga arising from changes in NHS terms and conditions. Briefly, the claimants are alleging that…
It doesn’t seem so long ago that the concept of an automatic transfer of employees under TUPE evoked exclamations of incredulity and disbelief amongst non-lawyers (and some lawyers). Now we have all got used to the idea, Gabriel v (1) Peninsula Business Services Ltd (2) Taxwise Services Ltd reminds us that unless TUPE applies, employees…
Do rejected applicants have the right to disclosure of documents relating to the successful candidate if they consider they have suffered unlawful discrimination the the recruitment process? No, said the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Meister v Speech Design Carrier Systems GmbH which was a claim by an applicant for a job as an…
Another important age discrimination and retirement case this month is Homer v West Yorks Police, which concerned a senior police officer who became a legal adviser at the Police National Legal Database after retiring from the police aged 51. At the time he joined, there was no requirement for advisers to have a law degree,…
This month’s biggest employment law news stories have to be the Supreme Court’s two decisions on age discrimination in Seldon v Clarkson Wright & Jakes and Homer v West Yorks Police. Both give useful guidance about how cases on age discrimination will be considered from now on – but both leave questions to be considered…