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05 November 2021 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7955 / Categories: Features
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Employment law brief: 5 November 2021

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Ian Smith leaves no stone unturned as he tackles rudeness, gross insubordination, stigmatisation, honour, reputation, & protected disclosure
  • Court of Appeal consideration of ‘substitution’ clauses in gig economy cases.
  • Adjudicating on a whistleblowing case—Employment Appeal Tribunal advice.
  • Disclosure—legal professional privilege and the ‘iniquity’ exception.
  • Anonymity orders—embarrassment/stigma not enough.

The four cases considered this month all contain useful guidance for tribunals and all the rest of us struggling blindly in the Stygian gloom of employment law. In the first, the Court of Appeal gave welcome consideration to the perennial problem of substitution clauses in cases on employment/worker status, and did so specifically in the context of gig economy working. In the second case the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) strongly recommended a structured approach to adjudication in whistle blowing cases.

The third and fourth cases concerned matters of procedure, rather than substantive liability. In the third the EAT considered the ‘iniquity’ exception to professional privilege (coming to a conclusion that claimants’ representatives might find worrying), and in the fourth it gave

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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