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UK: "BLACKLISTING" CASE: This may be the law, but its not justice blacklisted worker loses court case on technicality

21 March 2015

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"Dave Smith, an engineer and UCATT safety rep, was forced to leave the construction industry after he was placed on the Consulting Association blacklist for complaining about unpaid wages and raising concerns about safety issues such as asbestos and overflowing toilets on building sites under the control of different Carillion Group companies in the 1990s. But yesterday he lost his test case in the Court of Appeal after judges ruled he was not protected by UK employment law because was on site via an employment agency and not directly by the company that blacklisted him.

He said: What is the point of employment law or the Human Rights Act? Even with mountains of documentary evidence and an admission from the company that they blacklisted me because I was a trade union member who had raised safety concerns, I still cannot win. This might be the law, but it is not justice."

See the article: This may be the law, but its not justice blacklisted worker loses court case on technicality (Union Solidarity International, link)

And see: Full-text of the Court of Appeal ruling (pdf)

and: No hope of justice for blacklist victim as court rules agency builders not protected by law (Mirror, link)

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