header-logo header-logo

Local authority receives depressing decision

18 June 2009
Issue: 7374 / Categories: Legal News , Local government , Employment
printer mail-detail

A local authority has lost its £1m claim against a chief executive who they claimed failed to disclose previous stress-related illnesses in her job application.

A local authority has lost its £1m claim against a chief executive who they claimed failed to disclose previous stress-related illnesses in her job application.

Cheltenham Borough Council sued its former employee, Christine Laird, for making fraudulent or negligent misrepresentations in a job application, by not disclosing she had previously suffered depression.
However, Mr Justice Hamblen dismissed the application, noting that Laird had correctly filled out the council’s medical questionnaire, which asked: “Do you have either a physical and/or mental impairment?”
Hamblen J said: “She did not have an ongoing depressive disorder...A reasonable person in Mrs Laird’s position at the material time would not regard herself as having a physical or mental impairment.”

Hamblen J rejected a counterclaim for damages by Laird to reflect the value of the work she did for the council during her tenure.

Andrew North, chief executive of the council, is consulting with group leaders and legal advisers on whether or not to appeal the ruling.
A decision will be made early next week.

Issue: 7374 / Categories: Legal News , Local government , Employment
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll