An action packed MMD this week. Sunnia and Nils have ‘taken the reins’ on the Podcast with an immigration law special.

We have legal updates on the subject of unfair dismissal, while there is still time to register your place at our Employment Law and AI Update seminar in May.  The event will be held at Wakefield Trinity’s stadium and will start with registration and a free breakfast at 8.30am. To register your place please email by return or email seminars@chadlaw.co.uk.

THE MMD PODCAST

Episode 25: A Fireside Chat: an immigration special featuring Sunnia Khaliq

Join Nils and his special guest, Sunnia Khaliq, solicitor in the Chadwick Lawrence Employment Department, in this immigration special where they discuss all things skilled worker visas.

https://spoti.fi/3JvbDeq

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

Tube driver who opened wrong doors wins unfair dismissal claim

The Claimant, Sam Gritton, was dismissed by Transport for London after she accidentally opened both sets of doors on a busy Central line train at Holborn station in January 2022. The doors were open for three seconds and she failed to report the incident immediately. After a passenger reported the incident, it was investigated and Gritton submitted a statement explaining that she had tried to close the doors, but that “nothing was happening” on her CCTV. Her statement also explained that at the time of the incident, she was dealing with the death of both parents in a matter of weeks and was preoccupied with these issues.

She said: “I opened the doors and people got off – between 30 and 60 seconds, I forgot where I was for a moment. I was pushing the door close buttons but the doors were not shutting. I made a PA asking people to not obstruct the doors. I panicked, I opened the cab door and pushed the mushroom and my fingers were on the open buttons. “I realised I was on the wrong side. I do not recall opening the doors, I shut my cab door and made a PA. I panicked a little bit – loads of things going on in my brain.”

Gritton was stood down from her duties whilst the investigation took place and was invited to a disciplinary hearing later that month. In April, she received a letter confirming that she had been summarily dismissed, with the disciplinary panel concluding that she had “suffered a loss of clear memory of the incident…this is highly concerning”. It added that while she was dealing with a number of stress and mental health issues, the incident had been a severe breach of Transport for London’s rules and procedures.

Gritton later brought claims for unfair dismissal on the grounds that five other Tube drivers had also accidentally opened the doors, but had been allowed to keep their jobs. She also filed claims for disability discrimination, claiming that she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression and sex discrimination. The tribunal upheld her claim of unfair dismissal due to flaws in the investigation process. It found that there had been some inadequacies relating to whether Gritton’s actions were related to a disability or ill health, or a mechanical issue with the door opening. It also found that the comparators she presented for her claim of sex discrimination had “not been taken into account or genuinely considered”.

However, despite its findings around the nature of the investigation and dismissal, the tribunal ruled that no compensation should be given, due to the severity of the incident at the heart of the case.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/660e8741a43d9100113af12f/Ms_S_Gritton_v_London_Underground_Ltd_-_3204049_2022_-_Reasons.pdf

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!

OTHER SERVICES

This week, Jake Bedford from our Corporate and Commercial department has prepared an article on director’s duties.  For further information on this matter, please contact us and we will put you in touch with Jake.

Directors Duties

JOIN US FOR OUR MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS SESSIONS

Through our relationship with Tailored Learning Solutions who provide mental health first aid courses in our business, we are now able to announce that we are running multiple courses at our Wakefield office including the following:

Mental Health First Aid (2 day course)

• 24/25th April (FULLY BOOKED)
• 26/27th June
• 25/26th Sept

Mental Health First Aid – Refresher (1/2 day workshop)

• 24th September

Suicide First Aid – LITE (1/2 day workshop)

• 25th June

Suicide First Aid – Understanding Suicide Intervention (1 day workshop)

• 25th November

Mental Health for Managers Workshop (1 day workshop)

• 26th April
• 14th October

The details of these sessions can be found at the Tailored Learning Solutions website: https://www.tailoredlearningsolutions.co.uk/book-online?category=all-services

If you would like further information and details of the cost for these events, please email carolgledhill@chadlaw.co.uk