When a woman’s niece and great niece were appointed her deputies (persons responsible for looking after her financial affairs) under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, they made gifts of her assets to charities, themselves, family members and friends. They also…
The ‘controlling mind’ behind a property investment company that went into liquidation with an estimated deficiency of more than £70 million has been banned from being a company director for 12 years. In making the order under the Company Directors…
Businesses faced with employees making repeated unsubstantiated complaints of discrimination will have to think twice before dismissing them following a Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision. The EAT held that the dismissal of an employee who brought a series of grievances…
A former jockey has won £58,000 in compensation for injuries he suffered at Cheltenham racecourse when his horse fell at the first hurdle. Philip Hide’s horse skidded and fell at the outer end of the hurdle, causing him to be…
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill has now received Royal Assent. One of the more important changes for industry is that creative designs which are used in an industrial process will be protected for the life of the creator plus…
A recent Court of Appeal judgment, dealing with a situation where a party has suspended or delayed compliance with its contractual obligations, is likely to be of interest to many businesses. The economic downturn has made this scenario increasingly common…
The ECJ has ruled that an employer's redundancy selection exercise must not discriminate against workers who have taken parental leave. In this case, the employer used selection criteria from a recent appraisal process, which the employee had not participated in…
A new system has come into force which relaxes the rules regarding the disclosure of past convictions and cautions when checks are carried out on job applicants by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) – formerly the Criminal Records Bureau…
Under the Equality Act 2010, a person is disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. In Wheeldon v Marstons plc, at…
In shedding light on the correct approach to cases where evidence of misconduct is uncovered subsequent to dismissal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that it was open to an employment tribunal (ET) to find that a fair dismissal…