There are many aspects to employment law including race, age and sex discrimination. Here we’ll look at some cases where employees successfully won damages from their employers.

 

 

A trio of white Metropolitan Police Officers won a combined total of £90,000 in compensation after a recent race tribunal found in their favour.

 

The three men had complained that they had been made an example of by a police force desperate to shake off the reputation of the findings published in the Macpherson Report.

 

Tom Hassell, a Detective Constable, was suspended from his position for allegedly deliberately mispronouncing the word “shi’ites” in front of an Asian colleague. The other two men, Detective Inspector Paul Whatmore and Detective Sergeant Colin Lockwood were also suspended for taking no action after their colleague made a complaint of racism against Mr. Hassell. The employment tribunal agreed with the officer’s claims that they’d been made an example of and had been used as political pawns and awarded Mr Hassell £25,000, with the other two men receiving £32,500 each.

 

 

In a landmark case, an employment tribunal upheld the unfair dismissal complaint of private club secretary Megan Thomas who said she had been sacked for ‘being too young’. After completing her six month probation period in the job, Miss Thomas (19 at the time) claimed her bosses told her she wasn’t old enough to deal with the club’s clients who pay up to £1,000 a year for an exclusive membership.

 

Her employer stated that it was because she had made some mistakes during this time and had just decided to let her go. Miss Thomas also denied claims that brought her integrity into question and was awarded a four figure sum as compensation, despite already having found alternative employment with a salary in the region of £25,000.

 

 

Lance bombardier Kerry Fletcher was awarded this significant sum after successfully winning her claim for sexual harassment, sex discrimination and victimisation. A Staff Sergeant was said to have pursued Miss Fletcher for sex and when she turned him down, he tried to ruin her career. She saw no alternative but to hand in her notice after 10 years’ service.

 

The tribunal ordered the MOD to pay Miss Fletcher a total of £186,895. This was broken down into £65,558 for loss of earnings and pension entitlement, £50,000 for exemplary damages, £30,000 for injury to her feelings and £20,000 for aggravated damages.