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07 March 2019 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7831 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Employment law brief: 7 March 2019

In this month’s employment brief, Ian Smith examines the long shadow cast by the infamous ‘gay cake case’ & takes a look at some exceptions to the unfair dismissal rule

  • Automatic unfair dismissal: a gap in the protection?
  • Automatic unfairness again: this time on a TUPE transfer.
  • Freedom to hold a belief—but whose belief?
  • What is ‘an email’?
  • Two cases this month have concerned the exception rather than the rule in unfair dismissal law: namely where the dismissal is automatically unfair because it comes into an especially protected category. Not only are these categories important in themselves, they are also (like patriotism for the scoundrel) the last refuge of the claimant without two years’ qualifying employment. The third case considered here shows clearly the effect of the Supreme Court decision in the Lee v Ashers Baking Company Ltd and others [2018] UKSC 49, [2018] All ER (D) 43 (Oct) case. The fourth case raises the sort of question that lawyers

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    MOVERS & SHAKERS

    Kennedys—Milan Devani

    Kennedys—Milan Devani

    Chief information officer appointment strengthens technology leadership

    Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

    Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

    Firm strengthens Wilmslow team with two solicitor appointments

    DWF—Ian Plumley

    DWF—Ian Plumley

    Londoninsurance and reinsurance practice announces partner appointment

    NEWS
    The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
    Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
    The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
    A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
    Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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