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22 May 2008 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7322 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Employment Law Brief: 22 May 2008

illegality and tax status
burden of proof and automatic unfairness
protection from harassment

Several years ago, one learned lord justice said extra-judicially that he had always thought that slavery had been abolished in this country until he had been appointed to the Court of Appeal. That sentiment has perhaps been borne out in the employment law sphere with a sudden rush of cases in that court in the last month.

In Kalwak and another v Consistent Group Ltd  [2008] EWCA Civ 430, [2008] All ER (D) 394 (Apr) the court overturned a well known decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) extending employment status (and hence protection) to Polish workers imported into this country by an agency whose documentation then went out of its way to deny any employment relationship. The decision was largely because of defective reasoning by the tribunal and the result was that the case was remitted for a rehearing (which will be interesting).

In Amicus and others v Dynamex Friction Ltd and another [2008] EWCA Civ 381,

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NEWS
Contract damages are usually assessed at the date of breach—but not always. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Gascoigne, knowledge lawyer at LexisNexis, examines the growing body of cases where courts have allowed later events to reshape compensation
The Supreme Court has restored ‘doctrinal coherence’ to unfair prejudice litigation, writes Natalie Quinlivan, partner at Fieldfisher LLP, in this week' NLJ
The High Court’s refusal to recognise a prolific sperm donor as a child’s legal parent has highlighted the risks of informal conception arrangements, according to Liam Hurren, associate at Kingsley Napley, in NLJ this week
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mazur may have settled questions around litigation supervision, but the profession should not simply ‘move on’, argues Jennifer Coupland, CEO of CILEX, in this week's NLJ
A simple phrase like ‘subject to references’ may not protect employers as much as they think. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, analyses recent employment cases showing how conditional job offers can still create binding contracts
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