Publications

The case of Royal Mail Group Ltd v Efobi reviewed whether Section 136 (2) of the Equality Act 2010 (“Section 136 (2)”) had altered the burden of proof in employment cases alleging discrimination. Mr Efobi, the Claimant in this case, was arguing that the Equality Act had removed the burden of proof from Claimants to demonstrate that on the balance of possibilities, in the absence of an adequate explanation, an unlawful act of discrimination had been committed and instead created a neutral burden.

This is a brand new series from our Banking team, which will be issued every three months, and will provide you with a brief snapshot of what the team have been up to, as well as a look at any big sector updates or changes. 

Following on from Part One of our Strategic Land series, where Katie Fung, a Partner in the Real Estate & Projects team at Devonshires, reviewed Option Agreements, Katie will now discuss Promotion Agreements.

In our new article, we provide an overview of the new Building Safety Bill, highlighting some of the more important changes over the previous version. 

On 11 July 2019, the Government opened a consultation to review sexual harassment in the workplace on the back of the #metoo movement. That consultation closed on 2 October 2019 and given the intervening pandemic, the Government has only just released their response. This has confirmed that the Government intends to introduce a duty requiring employers to prevent sexual harassment.

On 21 July 2021 the Government announced a further, significant, development in its ongoing attempts to support leaseholders in medium to lower-rise buildings (under 18m) who have faced difficulty in selling, anxiety at the potential cost of remediation and concern at the safety of their homes.

Managing absent employees can be a long process, particularly where the absence is as a result of a disability. It can be tempting for employers to rely on medical evidence that is not current with a view to bringing matters to a close sooner but as the recent case of Brightman v TIAA Limited has held, this can have an impact on any later objective justification defence.

BrewDog, the craft brewers, have been in the media spotlight recently amidst allegations of having a toxic workplace culture and bullying claims from their employees. Media sources have indicated that BrewDog has apologised to its employees in light of these allegations; however, allegations of bullying or having a toxic workplace are something that can many employers can face from time to time. In this article we review the best ways for employers to deal with these allegations should they arise.

With strategic land becoming more competitive due to its cost effective nature in providing some security for future pipeline delivery, Katie Fung, a Partner in the Real Estate & Projects team at Devonshires, will discuss the key differences between various strategic land structures in this series.

The Employment Tribunal has found that an employee had been unfairly dismissed for raising health and safety issues with their employer, about a lack of PPE or other workplace COVID- secure measures, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those dealing with charity land will not be surprised that the topic of regulation of disposals of land split consultees to the 2017 Law Commission report “Technical Issues in Charity Law”. The Government’s response to the Law Commission is set out in the recently published Charities Bill 2021.

On 1 April 2021, the Government published its summary of responses received to its ‘New Model for Shared Ownership Consultation’ which concluded in late 2020.