Equality legislation - Chymorvah Guest House in Marazion

A fascinating case ended up at the Court of Appeal last week in London.  Many of you may recall the original court case when Chymorvah Guest House refused to allow gay couple, Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy, to stay in a double room in their establishment.

Peter and Hazelmary Bull had appealed against a conclusion by a judge at Bristol County Court that they acted unlawfully when they turned away Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy in September 2008.

Judge Andrew Rutherford ruled in January last year that the Bulls had breached equality legislation and ordered them to pay the couple a total of £3,600 damages.

Last weeks ruling was given by Sir Andrew Morritt, Chancellor of the High Court, Lord Justice Hooper and Lady Justice Rafferty.

The judges heard that the Bulls were being backed by the Christian Institute and Mr Hall and Mr Preddy by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

After the ruling, John Wadham, the commission's group legal director, said: "I have genuine sympathy for Mr and Mrs Bull, as their beliefs are clearly strongly held.

"We believe that this case will help people to better understand the law around freedom of religion. When offering a service, people cannot use their beliefs – religious or otherwise – to discriminate against others.

This last point was crucial in the final decision and I wonder how many people are aware of this completely. 

At GMS Law we have always helped members of the Gay and Lesbian community to assert their rights – we may be able to help you on a No Win-No Fee basis too.

*Thank you Bristol Evening Post 11 February 2012 for content

Asbestosis and Mesothelioma

Today I am talking about asbestosis.  It’s a very serious disease that quite often, does not manifest itself for several years after exposure to asbestos.  At GMS Law, we help people with asbestos related disease on no-win, no-fee basis.

So, a little about asbestos related disease:-

*The main symptom is shortness of breath, initially on exertion but later even at rest. Others include tiredness, a cough, chest tightness and chest pain.

Asbestos can cause thickening of the pleura, the membrane that lines the outside of the lung. Often this will only be noted when an x-ray is performed for another reason. If the thickening is severe and widespread, it restricts lung function causing shortness of breath.

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that's only caused by exposure to asbestos. It can occur in the pleura, where it may cause shortness of breath or chest pain, or the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal wall), where it may cause intestinal obstruction.

Generally asbestos was used in the 1970’s in building materials because of its strength and resistance to heat – sadly, any disease will take around 25-40 years to manifest itself; first symptoms are often shortness of breath.

There are other diseases that mimic asbestos related diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and carcoidosis  and clinicians will rule out these by a series of vigorous tests.

At GMS, our aim is to obtain fast compensation and peace of mind

*Acknowledgement Dr Rob Hicks and BBC Health

Sharia (Islamic Law) and the UK

The BBC today reported that there is a rising trend for muslims to take advice based on Sharia law with thousands of people taking advantage of it every year.  There has been critiscism from some women's groups particularly.  These groups say that Sharia law discriminates against women.  The Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (IKWRO) is campaigning to bring an end to the practice of consulting Sharia law practitioners.

"We have spoken to many women and all of them tell us the same story; Sharia law is not providing them with the justice that they seek.  The councils are dominated by men who are making judgements in favour of men" said Diana Nammi.  To this, Baroness Cox has introduced a bill to The House of Lords that's aimed at introducing regulation of Sharia organisations in the UK; it is expected to get a second reading later this year.  Sharia Law is particularly used in divorce.  For men it is quite simple to divorce, but women need to persuade a judge to dissolve the union when it is against the wishes of her husband.

So how do these councils work?  There is a panel of scholars in addition to an expert in English Law who make a decision using Islamic Law, particularly in divorce cases.  1000's of women have approached Sharia Councils (muslim tribunal), to annul marriages where civil divorce is just not enough - it is also a relatively inexpensive service, but they do not have civil powers in Britain.

It is not for me to say whether Sharia Law should be given a place in the UK legal system, but it is definitely something that must be debated.

Happy New Year and welcome 2012

2011 have been fabulous for us and I hope it has been for you too.  We firmly believe that 2012 will be even kinder despite the Mayan predictions, I don't think the world will come to an end just yet.  Although, of course if it does, you could always contact us for any help with your accident!!!  That will be dependent on GMS being immortal though and I'm not sure that even we can manage that one - we can manage many things, but miracles may be a stretch.

As it is a new year, I do not want to be gloomy, but should the unthinkable happen, please remember that we do provide No Win No Fee accident support to hopefully make things a little easier.

Happy New Year everyone!

Jimmy Choo and the turkey bottom

On the 1^st day of Christmas my true love sent to me a big sparkly Christmas tree

On the 2^nd day of Christmas my true love sent to me two roast turkeys

On the 3^rd day of Christmas my true love sent to me three Christmas puddings

On the 4^th day of Christmas my true love sent to me four large cocktails

On the 5^th day of Christmas my true love sent to me five inch heels!

On the 6^th day of Christmas my true love sent to me six slippery floors

On the 7^th day of Christmas my true love sent to me seven drinks too many

On the 8^th day of Christmas my true love sent to me a very ‘dicky’ tummy

On the 9^th day of Christmas my true love sent to me one broken ankle

On the 10^th day of Christmas my true love sent to me first degree burns

On the 11^th day of Christmas my true love sent to me 11 hours in A & E

On the 12^th day of Christmas my true love sent to me industrial strength painkillers

However you are spending Christmas, just make sure that it’s spent safely and that you don’t end up head first in the Christmas tree with needles in very sensitive areas, or with your Jimmy Choo firmly wedged into the turkey’s bottom.

Enjoy a very merry Christmas

Sky-scraper heels in the party season

Hooray!  'Tis the season to be jolly'.  Yes, it's that time of the year when the glitter and heels come out to play and party!

I am the first person to enjoy a really good party so I will not be all gloomy here, but it is wise just to be a little cautious when you're out and having a great time, because falling over in high heels can cause serious damage to your ankle, now and in the future.  When bars, clubs and restaurants are so busy there are hazards ready to trip you off and send you flying - hopefully, you will just be a little red-faced, but it could cause you some damage.

Spilt drinks on floors that have not been cleaned up are an accident waiting to happen, boxes left in gang-ways, dropped food on the floor, burst balloons, even the Christmas tree with all its' lights could be waiting there just for you to fall in to!

So just be aware, both venues and party animals and stay safe because you want to enjoy the whole season and not on crutches or worse...

Church of England bans hosting civil partnership ceremonies

On Monday a new law came into effect that allowed civil partnership ceremonies to take place in places of worship.  The Church of England have agreed that they will not take places in their churches unless the full General Synod agree

In a letter to the general synod - its national assembly - secretary general William Fittall wrote that "no Church of England religious premises would be allowed to host the registration of civil partnerships unless they had written permission from the General Synod".

The legal office of the Church says this move does not constitute unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act as marriage and civil partnerships are different services and so legally distinct concepts.

Campaigner Peter Tatchell urges the clergy to disobey this ruling describing it as "dictatorial and homophobic".  Mr Tatchell also said it was an "infringement of religious freedom" and accused the equalities minister of supporting discrimination.

This is an interesting development and much more may be found on the BBC website following this link.

Guidelines to social media and the workplace

As this is our first 'real' blog in the blogosphere, I thought we would share with you some guidelines drawn up by ACAS about using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN etc...in the workplace.  Possibly one of the most important points, is to draw up a social networking policy for your organisation so that there is no ambiguity about your company expectations.  Anyway, enough from me, please take a look at the guidelines provided by ACAS below:-

Smart phones, internet, tweeting, blogging - we have accepted all of these innovations, and many more, as part of our working lives, helping us to work more flexibly, stay in touch for longer and respond to each other more quickly. 

But is it all good news? Some estimates report that misuse of the internet and social media by workers costs Britain's economy billions of pounds every year and add that many employers are already grappling with issues like time theft, defamation, cyber bullying, freedom of speech and the invasion of privacy.

So how should employers respond to the challenges posed by social networking tools at work?

New research from the Institute for Employment Studies, commissioned by Acas, advises employers to:

• draw up a policy on social networking 
• treat 'electronic behaviour' in the same way you would treat 'non-electronic behaviour'
• react reasonably to issues around social networking by asking 'what is the likely impact on the organisation?

There are also a number of factsheets and research documents on the ACAS site accessible via this link

Look out for our next blog - it will be all about us!

Good morning world!  Yes, we have joined the Blogosphere; at last.

We will be sharing information with you that you just will not want to miss, some of it serious and some not so serious.  There will be comments on national issues and current affairs and perhaps a few snippets of information that is more personal to us.

We are specialists in 'No Win, No Fee' and as a smaller company, we really do care about our clients - we are friendly, local based in Norwich and above everything, always professional.

So, this is just the opener, your starter for 10 - if you want to be educated and entertained, then this is the blog to look out for.

5th August 2010

Welcome to our new Blog page.  Here you can keep up to date with latest happenings at GMS Law