Peter Earle's WorkPlace Conflicts Blog

 The case of Aslam, Farrar & Others v. Uber BV & Others in the United Kingdom In this case, a group of Uber drivers sued the company, arguing that they should be classified as workers rather than independent contractors, and therefore entitled to certain employment rights and benefits. The drivers claimed that Uber had been negligent in their duty of care towards them by classifying them as self-employed contractors, which resulted in the denial of employment rights such as minimum wage and holiday pay. The drivers argued that they should be considered workers and entitled to these benefits. In 2016, the Employment Tribunal in the UK ruled in favor of the drivers, stating that they were indeed workers and not self-employed contractors. The tribunal found that Uber had significant control over the drivers' work, including setting fares and terms of service, and therefore had a duty of care towards them. The ruling emphasized that the drivers were not operating as independent...

 The Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster occurred on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig, operated by Transocean and leased by British Petroleum (BP), experienced a blowout while drilling an exploratory well, resulting in a massive explosion and subsequent oil spill. Investigations into the incident revealed that multiple factors contributed to the disaster, including employee negligence. The rig workers, including engineers and supervisors, were found to have made critical errors and overlooked warning signs leading up to the explosion. One major contributing factor was the failure to properly interpret pressure test results that indicated potential issues with the well's integrity. Despite the warning signs, the employees proceeded with the drilling operation, disregarding safety protocols and industry best practices. Additionally, it was discovered that safety equipment, such as the blowout preventer, had not been properly maintained and tested, further exacerbating th...

A long-standing contractual dispute between a former employee and her company has been dismissed by the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) due to its preexistence before the establishment of the tribunal. Arletta Onita Oxley had filed a complaint with the Labour Department in 2016, alleging that BCQS International, a property and development consultancy, had not honored her employment contract from February 9, 2009. The dispute was referred to the ERT three years after the tribunal's creation. However, retired Appeals Court Justice Christopher Blackman, the chairman of the ERT, ruled that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to handle a dispute that originated prior to its establishment. The dispute, referred to the tribunal in October 2016, was subsequently dismissed. During the case management conference, the parties were instructed to submit supporting documents for their positions. Blackman noted that the ERT carefully considered the submissions, including those from Oxley. To provid...

During the month of November, 2022, the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) issued a second ruling against luxury resort Sandy Lane Hotel for unfair dismissal. The tribunal ordered Sandy Lane to pay former laundry supervisor Alfred Branch, who had worked at the hotel for 11 years, a sum of just over $54,000 by December 15, 2022. Branch's lawyer, Rhea Cheltenham, and Sandy Lane's attorney, Michael Koeiman, had previously agreed to a basic amount of approximately $50,000. However, the ERT's three-member panel, chaired by retired Court of Appeal Justice Christopher Blackman, rejected Sandy Lane's claim that Branch's letter written in January 2014, seeking a meeting with the chairman to discuss concerns, contained threatening language. Justice Blackman stated, "On consideration of all the material presented, the tribunal holds that the letter...was not intended as a threat to the good name of the respondent and that the consequential dismissal was unfair." The tr...

 In January 2021, In a recent ruling by the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT), Sonya Toppin, a former senior employee of a local commercial bank, lost her claim for unfair dismissal against Republic Bank (Barbados) Limited. The chairman of the ERT, retired High Court Justice Christopher Blackman, based the decision on Toppin's admission that she was attempting to travel to the United States with around US$20,000 in foreign currency without legal permission, an act considered gross misconduct. According to Justice Blackman, the tribunal found the bank justified in terminating Toppin's employment due to her admitted breach of the permitted foreign currency limit and failure to declare the excess amount or seek approval from Exchange Control. As a financial institution, the undisclosed source of the foreign currency raised concerns. The chairman referred to a previous unfair dismissal case involving Chefette Restaurants Limited, stating that a single failure by an employee can cons...

In a recent employment dispute, Roslyn Patricia Smith, the former General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), claimed that she was unfairly dismissed by the NUPW or that her contract ended when she reached the retirement age stated in her appointment letter. The case was brought before the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT), with hearings held between December 2022 and February 2023. Smith was represented by Ms. Duana M Peterson, while Mr. Larry Smith SC and Mr. Codie Hinds represented the NUPW. Smith made six main claims, including unfair dismissal, non-payment of the termination amount, refusal to provide a certificate of employment record, breach of employment contract, unfair dismissal while on sick leave, and unfair dismissal related to unauthorized credit card use by the NUPW's president.  After evaluating the claims, the ERT determined that it did not have jurisdiction to consider the issues concerning the certificate of employment record, unfair dismiss...