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A businessman with an exemplary record has been disqualified from being a director after failing to question a VAT fraud at his company. The case involved the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and XE Solutions Ltd. Three of the company’s directors were disqualified for between 11 and 14 years under the Company
A supplier has failed in its bid to use a force majeure event as a reason to avoid repaying a customer after it failed to fulfil a contract. The issue arose after the two parties entered into a contract in February 2019 for the supply of sulphur diesel. In accordance with the contract, the buyer
A forklift operator who was sacked for attending work after his son contracted Covid has won his claim of unfair dismissal. He said he believed his son was just faking symptoms. David Lewis had worked for The Benriach Distillery Company for 23 years with a clean disciplinary and attendance record. In February 2021, his line
The government is introducing new powers to clamp down on directors who dissolve companies to avoid paying their liabilities. Rogue directors may be required to pay compensation to creditors. The new legislation extends the Insolvency Service’s powers to investigate and disqualify company directors who abuse the company dissolution process. The Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification
The case involved Oxford Said Business School v Heslop. Heslop had made protected disclosures to her manager concerning the lawfulness of the school’s actions in a procurement process, and potential over-charging and breach of contract in relation to a key client. The manager felt that the allegations were misconceived. Shortly after making those disclosures, Heslop
The case involved JM Solutions UK Ltd. Its two directors lived in Romania, and since the Covid pandemic they communicated with staff via email and telephone. The employee, referred to as Dave, was the company’s office and sales manager, and was responsible for dealing with customers and negotiating rates. His contract of employment contained a
A software designer has lost his appeal against a court ruling that his employer owned the copyright on his work. The case involved Penhallurick and MD5 Ltd. Penhallurick had been employed by MD5 in 2006 to develop virtual forensic computing (VFC) software, after developing a manual VFC method as part of his MSc degree. VFC
A university lecturer has lost her appeal against a decision that her employer was entitled to dismiss her before the end of her probationary period. Korthals Altes began working for the University of Essex in 2017. Her contract provided for a three-year probation period, at the end of which she was entitled to apply for
A dealer at a casino has won her claim of race discrimination after her employer allowed customers to request that they only be served by white staff. The dealer, Ms Tesfagiorgis, was a black British national. She had worked for Aspinalls Club Ltd for 13 years at its casino in Mayfair, London. The casino’s patrons
The government has confirmed that probate fees will increase to a rate of £273 for all applicants, regardless of the size of the estate, from 26th January 2022. At present, where an estate is more than £5,000, HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) charges on a two tier scale. If you are a probate practitioner