Disability Discrimination – Diabetic Cake Shop Worker Compensated

Discrimination against disabled employees is a social evil with which Employment Tribunals (ETs) will have no truck. In one case, a cake shop worker who was dismissed because of her diabetes was awarded thousands of pounds in compensation.

The woman’s condition meant that, without daily…

Oct 18, 2021

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The woman’s condition meant that, without daily insulin injections, she would suffer a hypoglycaemic episode and fall into a coma. At the date of her dismissal, she was in stage B renal failure. In sacking her by text, her manager expressed the view that she needed to find a job more suitable to her health requirements.

Upholding her disability discrimination claim, an ET found that the only possible explanation for her dismissal was the fact of her disability and her unavoidable need to go home at a particular time of day so that she could inject herself with insulin in temperature-controlled and hygienic conditions.

Having had an exemplary record throughout her working life, she was distressed and embarrassed by the circumstances of her dismissal and worried that she would never find another job. She felt completely worthless and limited because of her disability. The company that employed her was ordered to pay her a total of £7,343 in compensation and interest, including £5,000 for injury to her feelings.

Nightclub Dancer Compensated Following Vicious Assault by Customer

Public-facing businesses are under a clear legal duty to protect their personnel from the risk of assault by customers. In a case on point, a nightclub dancer who was viciously attacked by a client was awarded substantial compensation after a culpable delay in security staff coming to her aid. She remonstrated with the client after he broke the club’s strict ‘no touching’ rule by slapping her on the buttock. He first tried to punch her before smashing a glass over her head, resulting in…

Poultry Workers Not Entitled to NMW for Travel to Farms

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Dismissal for Failure to Disclose Earlier Dismissal Not Unfair

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has rejected a man’s appeal against a decision that he had not been unfairly dismissed for failing to disclose a previous dismissal and a subsequent three-month employment gap on his job application. The man had started working for the Home Office in 2002. In 2016 he was dismissed for gross misconduct. He brought Employment Tribunal (ET) proceedings and a conciliation settlement was reached, the terms of which did not alter the basis of his dismissal. In…