In this week’s MMD we again focus on our seminar program with our first three seminars being available to register. To register your interest in any event, please email seminars@chadlaw.co.uk.

In our case law update we review two matters in the Employment Tribunal both focussing, to different degrees, on the always favourite issue for employment lawyers, workplace banter!

Outside the world of employment and regulatory law we have an update from our colleagues at Acclaim on enforcement methods.

There have been lots of relevant employment law/HR updates this week.

Civil servant loses sex discrimination claim after being called a ‘clever woman’ by colleague.

The Claimant, Rodgers, brought her claim against the MoD after a senior Army officer called her “a clever woman,” but had also stated that she could be “manipulative.” She told the tribunal that the officer had also accused her of having “a problem of robust banter” and that she “didn’t like men”. This claim was not upheld and, in the judgement, the judge held that the officer’s comment had no intent of any adverse effect upon her related to sex, and it could not “reasonably be construed as creating an unwanted environment for her”. Despite this, the tribunal did uphold an unfair dismissal claim following her dismissal. It heard that Rodgers had been asked to attend an informal misconduct meeting. Upon her refusal to attend, the meeting was converted into a formal misconduct hearing due to training concerns and an investigation into bullying allegations. The tribunal upheld the claim as Rodgers had not been explicitly told what “bullying” she had been accused of, was not given a chance to address these concerns.

https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions/ms-rodgers-v-ministry-of-defence-1806784-slash-2021

Care worker told ‘you have no friends’ was constructively dismissed.

A care home worker, Ms Pywell brought tribunal proceedings after she suffered an “abusive outburst” from a manager, Bacon, which left her feeling “degraded and intimidated” and unable to return to her job at the care home. Prior to this, Pywell had raised several concerns about safe staffing levels, patient safety and the actions or omissions of other colleagues. Her complaints included claims of colleagues being rough with residents and missed medication distributions, though she claimed that these were not taken seriously. The tribunal found that these complaints amounted to protected disclosures. Pywell had also raised her concerns regarding staff movement during the Covid-19 pandemic to Bacon.  She alleged that this exchange became very heated, whereby Bacon shouted at the Claimant, used foul and aggressive language, and said “no wonder you have no friends”. Pywell did not return to work and was signed off work by her doctor. She later raised a grievance about her exchange with Bacon, and her concerns about safety and disability discrimination, however the investigator did not complete any form of the investigatory report and her grievance was dismissed. The tribunal found the grievance process to be extremely poor, being that no direct investigation was carried out. Pywell resigned from the organisation in July 2021 and brought a tribunal claim for constructive dismissal, direct disability discrimination, harassment related to disability and detriment following a protected disclosure. The tribunal upheld her claim for constructive dismissal, however dismissed her whistleblowing detriment claim. Her disability discrimination and harassment claims were also dismissed as the tribunal found she was not treated less favourably because of her disability regarding her mental health difficulties.

https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions/miss-s-pywell-v-mr-j-w-nunn-t-slash-a-primrose-lodge-and-others-2601523-slash-2021

Upcoming Events

We have lots of exciting events coming up which we would love for you to be a part of.

To register your interest in any event, please email seminars@chadlaw.co.uk. We look forward to seeing you there!

Focus On – Acclaim

This week, Matt Perry from our Acclaim department has prepared an article on enforcement methods.

Should you require any of our services, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us and we would be happy to help.

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