IN THE NEWS

23 July 2009

Actions Against The Police

The US president has said police acted "stupidly" when they arrested a black Harvard scholar outside his own home.

Article posted by Nasir Hafezi

15th May 2009

Postal workers refuse to deliver BNP leaflets

Postal workers are refusing to deliver British National Party election leaflets because they object to its “right-wing rubbish”.

About 100 workers in the West Country have told union leaders that they will not carry the leaflets, which bear an anti-immigration message.

They have accused Royal Mail chiefs in Bristol and Somerset of “bullying”, with one office allegedly threatening workers with dismissal if they do not comply.

Read more at the Times Online Website

Story posted by Hamza Soren, Article by Joanna Sugden (The Times)

13th April 2009

Staff Suspended in Lancashire Over Pro-Palestinian Email

A major investigation is under way after Lancashire County Council suspended 14 members of staff over an allegedly racist email.

The offending email is claimed to have contained anti-Jewish material.
But a union leader has condemned the move as "extreme" and added the County Council was "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut".

County Councillor Vali Patel, part of the cabinet working group on voluntary community faith sector, said: "My understanding is that the emails were pro-Palestinian which may be perceived as anti-Jewish and that the members of staff who have been suspended were the receivers of the e-mail rather than the creators.

Les Parker, Lancashire branch secretary of union UNITE, said: "I find it a bit extreme that 14 people have been suspended.

"You need to have sufficient evidence to do this.

"I would be concerned if these 14 people have been suspended on something that may be considered to be inappropriate if it is a silly joke email that deserves a slap on the wrist rather than suspension.

"If all these employees have been guilty of is receiving the email, then suspending them is totally inappropriate and way over the top."

If found guilty, the workers will face disciplinary action and could even be sacked.

Article posted by Hamza Soren

7:00am Tuesday 10th March 2009

People have the right to make a claim

IT is a fundamental right of people who have suffered injury or loss to make a compensation claim or other remedy that will attempt, as best as possible, to place that person in a position as if that injury or loss had not occurred.

Such fundamental rights to be compensated are often denied to ordinary people who have legitimate and honest claims due to insurance companies unjustifiably denying the claim.

Take, for example, the mother and child who were both passengers in a car accident and who were accused of not being in the car at the time of the accident, or the insurance company that did not accept that a couple who were going out for an evening meal with friends were involved in an accident at all.

Both these cases are real and, sadly, went to trial with all the stress they had to deal with to get the justice they deserved.

It is also a suspicion among personal injury solicitors like me that the insurance companies have stigmatised as "suspicious" particular claimants from particular ethnicities and claims arising out of particular towns and cities.

No doubt the recent conviction of a claims company director and his associates involved in manufacturing fraudulent claims from Bolton, which is described as a "hotspot" town by them, will make the insurance companies wary of accepting legitimate claims from Bolton and other parts of the North West.

But let them not forget that making a claim is a long established principal and right in English law and they should not make excuses to refuse to deal with claims wherever they come from and whoever makes them.

Article by Nasir Hafezi, Hafezis Solicitors Bolton

20th February 2009

‘Unfair dismissal’ claims increasing

Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) are facing increasing numbers of unfair dismissal claims after neglecting to follow the correct statutory procedures when making employees redundant.

Small business insurer Hiscox said the last quarter saw a threefold increase in insurance claims from employers being sued by employees for ‘unfair dismissal’.

Businesses making redundancies must adhere to recognised procedure, Hiscox said, or risk being taken to court.

Former employees can claim discrimination on the basis of race, age or gender if they believe the redundancy process has treated them unfairly.
Hiscox’s SME expert, Gary Head, said: “Many SME owners will not necessarily have lived through a recession where redundancy has been a fact of working life and are unaware of what they need to do.

“All businesses should seek professional advice when it comes to making redundancies or they might find that what started out as a cost-cutting exercise could cost them far more in the long run.”

Article by Hamza Soren