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15 November 2024 / Ian Smith
Issue: 8094 / Categories: Features , Employment , Human rights , Discrimination , Harassment
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Employment law brief: 15 November 2024

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Ian Smith combs through four cases addressing important issues of interpretation…including the reach of sexual harassment law
  • Whistleblowing detriment: a question of timing
  • Redundancy consultation: how collective and individual fit together.
  • Maternity leave & redundancy protection—the meaning of suitable alternative vacancy.
  • Harassment related to the prohibited ground.

The four cases considered here all address important issues of interpretation, relating to when a protected disclosure can be made, how collective and individual consultations fit together in unfair redundancy cases (especially in non-union establishments), the meaning of ‘suitable available vacancy’ in the laws protecting those on maternity leave, and the reach of sexual harassment law. The last is of particular note on its facts because it concerned one man insulting another in a way that related to the protected characteristic of sex. It shows that, as so often, the matter is resolved by logical statutory interpretation, however counter-intuitive the result may seem at first.

Whistleblowing detriment

Most of this appeal in MacLennan v The British Psychological Society [2024] EAT 166concerned the worker status of a charity

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