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Employment law brief: 17 July 2008

17 July 2008 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7330 / Categories: Features , Discrimination , Employment
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DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION

EQUAL PAY CONFLICT

EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) has had a major impact on employment law, with the received wisdom being that it was intended to go beyond ordinary notions of equality (the basis of the rest of discrimination law) and give greater rights to disabled employees, as a matter of social policy. Indeed, one argument has always been that it really should have been entitled the Disability Protection Act, in order precisely to differentiate it from other discrimination headings. However, this interpretation has been given a rude shock this month by the House of Lords in a landmark decision going to the root of the legislation. That case has dominated the employment law news, but the month has also seen significant developments in relation to permissible comparators in equal pay cases, the possible conflict between industrial relations and EC law and the drafting of compromise agreements in cases where the employee leaves under a cloud.

THE MEANING OF DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION
The decision of the House of Lords

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Ceri Morgan, knowledge counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, which reshapes the law of fiduciary relationships and common law bribery
The boundaries of media access in family law are scrutinised by Nicholas Dobson in NLJ this week
Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege
Geoff Dover, managing director at Heirloom Fair Legal, sets out a blueprint for ethical litigation funding in the wake of high-profile law firm collapses
James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector
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