A consultant psychiatrist employed at a high-security hospital who has been accused of breaching confidentiality by leafing through a patient’s medical notes on a crowded train will face an internal disciplinary panel after the Court of Appeal underlined the gravity of the allegations. Unbeknown to
In what will be viewed as a serious blow to creators of computer software, the High Court has ruled that copyright in a computer program does not protect either the programming language in which it is written or its functionality from being copied by others.
Although an ex-wife fully understood the terms of a divorce settlement by which she agreed to pay her former husband a total of £450,000, a family judge was entitled to exercise her discretion under Section 31 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1993 to vary the
A professional firm that unwittingly acquired a poisoned chalice through the merger market, inheriting another firm’s potential liabilities in respect of a substantial number of negligence claims, has won a High Court ruling that it gave valid notification of the circumstances to its professional indemnity
Specialist advice in complex matters but still in a language you understand.
There’s snow everywhere and the thermometer is stuck at the bottom. Schools are closed and the children need to be looked after. What happens if your employees decide that battling their way into work isn’t an option during inclement weather? Do you need to pay
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) ensure, amongst other things, that if a business is sold or transferred, all the employees’ contracts of employment are automatically transferred to the purchaser or transferee. The Regulations were revised in 2006 in order to improve
In a cautionary tale for agricultural employers, the Court of Appeal has ruled that a dairy company was justifiably prosecuted under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 for taking on a herdsman through an agency without checking that he was being paid the minimum agricultural wage.
A devout Christian worker who was sent home without pay for wearing a cross in contravention of her employer’s uniform policy has won a landmark ruling that her human right to religious freedom was violated. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the
Voluntary organisations will welcome a decision of the Supreme Court that volunteers do not fall within the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (now superseded by the Equality Act 2010) or the EU Equal Treatment Framework Directive (X v Mid-Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau). X,
