Pressure on NHS whistleblowers is driving them to bring claims in the Employment Tribunal, while courts are grappling with the increasing appearance of emoji in evidence.
Hot topics in the legal world and updates on legal matters funded on CrowdJustice - all in this week’s Justice Beat.
Quote of the day
“NDAs should not prevent workers making protected disclosures about patient safety.” - Radiographer Sue Allison is taking a whistleblowing case to the Employment Tribunal.
Legal news
Bullying in the NHS?
1. Are the lives of stressed-out junior doctors at risk? One whistleblower thinks so. Munwar Hussain, who resigned from the non-executive board of NHS Tayside, claims he was ignored and ostracised after reporting allegations of systematic bullying of trainee doctors. He is heading to the Employment Tribunal to claim whistleblowing detriment, the Courier reports.
Education isolation
2. Guidance for schools on placing students in isolation may be inadequate, amid concerns that it is seen as a “dumping ground” for pupils, particularly those with special educational needs. The Department for Education may be facing a legal challenge, following a reported attempt by one pupil to take her own life in an isolation room, Schools Week reports.
Take-down requests
3. The UK Government is taking steps to stop media circulating online in contempt of court and causing criminal trials to collapse. Legal Cheek reports that the Solicitor General’s office has set up a hotline with contacts at Google, Facebook and Twitter, where officials can submit urgent take-down requests if they identify contemptuous material posted online.
Worker solidarity
4. Google caught some positive press this week; the Hill reports that the tech titan is demanding that its contractors provide full benefits to their workers, including a minimum wage, paid parental leave and sick leave. The commitment follows concerns raised by Google employees, and shows how solidarity can be a strong driving force for workers’ rights.
Can courts handle emoji?
5. Courts are often charged with tricky questions of interpretation, but what happens when they are asked to construe emoji? A study in the US suggests that emoji language increasingly features in evidence submitted to court and in judicial decisions. The research prompts writers at the Verge to ask whether courts are equipped to deal with the subtleties of emoji interpretation.
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This week on CrowdJustice
The family of Katie Allen, who took her own life in prison, just started raising funds to instruct experts; a former TV presenter is fundraising to take a harassment case to the Employment Tribunal; and traders, residents and tenants in Elephant and Castle are raising funds to argue for fair regeneration of their local area.
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