Tuesday 22 May 2018

Royal Surrey County NHS Foundation Trust v Drzymala

A doctor was employed on a series of fixed-term contracts.Her last contract was not renewed because her employer decided to make a permanent appointment to the role she had been performing. She interviewed for the position but was unsuccessful after a competitive recruitment process. Her employer mentioned an alternative role in a lower ranking post but did not discuss it with her. The doctor was given three months' notice in writing of the end of her fixed term contract, without mention of a right of appeal or the possibility of alternative employment. She raised a grievance and requested an appeal against the termination of her employment. Her employer acknowledged that it should have offered a right of appeal against the non-renewal of her contract, but did not think that it would have changed the outcome. The doctor brought a succesful claim for unfair dismissal in the ET. Her employer appealed, arguing that informing her of vacancies as required by the Fixed Term Employee Regulations satisfied the requirements of fairness, or at least provided evidence in support of it having acted fairly.The EAT dismissed the appeal and concluded that compliance with the FTER doers not of itself create a defence to an unfair dismissal claim. The Tribunal was entitled to find that the dismissal was unfair due to the employer's failure to expand upon its initial discussion with the doctor regarding alternative roles, and not providing a right of appeal against the non-renewal of her contract. www.charlesprice.net

Female Employee Wins £24,000 Discrimination Award

A female employee at DWP has been awarded £24,000 in compensation after she was discriminated against because of IVF treatment.In the case of Ginger v Department for Work and Pensions, the Employment Tribunal held that the DWP had discriminated against a female employee when a colleague asked her whether she could cope with a second child and when she was refused leave to take further IVF treatment. Mrs Ginger commenced her employment with the DWP in July 2009 , where she was employed as a work coach at Luton Job Centre.In 2011, she began a course of IVF treatment and gave birth to a son.In 2013 she began a further course of IVF treatment and in June 2014 she had a three-day absence from work for pregnancy - related /childbirth complications.In July 2014 she began a further course of IVF treatment and informed her then - manager, Mr Mills, that she may need time off at short notice for IVF treatment. At the end of September 2014, Mrs Ginger suffered a miscarraige and was therefore absent from work until January 14th, 2015. On January 15th, 2015 Mrs Ginger attended a return to work interview with Mr Mills.Mrs Ginger confirmed that she had been absent from work after suffering two miscarraiges , and that she was undergoing counselling due to her miscarraige.Mrs Ginger alleged that at this meeting Mr Mills stated to her "in order to have a miscarraige your pregnancy must be confirmed". Mrs Ginger subsequently made a claim for pregnancy discrimination in the Employment Tribunal, which upheld her claim as follows: In April, 2015 Mr Mills asked her if she could cope with a second child and whether it was a good idea to have further IVF treatment - the Tribunal found that this conduct amounted to direct sex discrimination, as the Tribunal held that Mr Mills would not have spoken to a man in this manner.The Tribunal also found that, as Mrs Ginger was refused leave in May 2015 to attend for further IVF treament - this conduct amounted to direct sex discrimination, as the Tribunal held that Mr Mills would not have spoken to a man in this manner. Ginger v Department for Work and Pensions 3401940/2015 www.charlesprice.net