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08 February 2018 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7780 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Employment law brief: 8 February 2018

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Ian Smith takes some time out to get serious about the trajectory of pension litigation, unfair dismissal & injury to feelings damages

  • Pension equality: macro issues at a micro level?
  • Unfair dismissal of a fixed-term employee.
  • Tribunal jurisdiction to construe a contract.
  • Injury to feelings damages available in all detriment cases.

What a way to treat a distinguished High Court judge in his retirement. There was Sir Alan Wilkie sitting harmlessly at home watching Escape to the Country when agents of the state broke in and put a chloroform mask over him, so strong that he only woke up a day later shackled to the judge’s chair in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) and made to hear the joined appeals in two cases of such complexity that they evoke in any readers the prescient statement of Monty Python’s Professor Gumby —‘My brain hurts’. The cases are Lord Chancellor v McCloud UKEAT/0071/17 and Sargeant v London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority UKEAT/0116/17, both of which constituted major test cases

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner

NEWS
The legal profession’s claim to be a ‘guardian of fairness’ is under scrutiny after stark findings on gender imbalance and opaque progression. Writing in NLJ this week, Joshua Purser of No5 Barristers’ Chambers and Govindi Deerasinghe of Global 50/50 warn that leadership remains dominated by a narrow elite, with men holding 71% of top court roles
A legal challenge to police disclosure rules has failed, reinforcing a push for transparency in policing. In NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth examines a case where the Metropolitan Police required officers to declare membership of groups like the Freemasons
Bereavement leave is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Writing in NLJ this week, Robert Hargreaves of York St John University explains how the Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a day-one right to leave for a wider range of losses, alongside new provisions for pregnancy loss and bereaved partners
Courts are beginning to grapple with whether AI-generated material is legally privileged—and the answers are mixed. In this week's issue of NLJ, Stacie Bourton, Tom Whittaker & Beata Kolodziej of Burges Salmon examine US rulings showing how easily privilege can be lost
New guidance seeks to bring order to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Minesh Tanna and David Bridge of Simmons & Simmons set out a framework stressing ‘transparency’, ‘explainability’ and ‘reliability’
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