HR Articles

A former physics professor at Oxford University has won his claims of age discrimination and unfair dismissal after he was forced to retire following his 68th birthday.

In Forstater v CGD Europe & Others, the Claimant’s consultancy contract was terminated after she made comments expressing her views that there are only two sexes and that it is impossible to change sex.

In Sethi v Elements Personnel Services, a Sikh man won his claim for religious discrimination against a recruitment agency who denied him work on account of his facial hair.

Employers should be aware that changing or removing adjustments for a disabled employee could amount to a failure to make reasonable adjustments, even if they are replaced with other adjustments.

Employers can be held legally responsible (vicariously liable) for the discriminatory actions of their employees which have taken place in the course of employment. To avoid being held liable, an employer would have to show that it took all reasonable steps to prevent the discriminatory actions from occurring.

In the recent case of Gray v Mulberry Company (Design) Ltd, the Court of Appeal has dismissed an employee's claim that her belief in "the statutory human or moral right to own the copyright and moral rights of her own creative works and output” was a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010.

In the case of Mackereth v The Department for Work and Pensions and another, the Claimant was a doctor who refused to use transgender individuals’ preferred pronouns and titles as he claimed it went against his Christian beliefs.

In the current age of the #MeToo movement, one would assume that any form of unwanted physical contact between a manager and a junior employee could count as harassment.

In the recent case of Raj v Capita Business Services Limited and another the Claimant, a male junior employee, alleged that his female manager committed an act of sexual harassment when she “briefly massaged” his shoulders in an open plan office.

In Conisbee v Crossley Farms Ltd, the Claimant alleged he was bullied by colleagues because of his vegetarianism and argued it amounted to a protected ‘belief’ under the Equality Act.