Reading the preposterous story about the 'sexual harassment' case at the special school in Northolt, it struck me that the damage done by employment tribunals increasingly seems to outweigh any benefit they provide. Obviously people should be protected against abuse in the workplace and unfair dismissal but a retrospective claim by someone who deserved to be fired would surely be regarded in most other courts as vexatious and be dismissed. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the recent case in Hammersmith & Fulham in which a council officer on a six figure salary claimed PTSD from being involved in the Grenfell Relief efforts and was paid £4.5 million, more than any other person impacted by the fire, the award doesn't seem proportionate. The case which brought Birmingham City Council into bankruptcy was due to binmen (exclusively male) getting bonuses when cleaners (mainly female) didn't even though the bonuses were being paid due to difficulties in retaining and recruiting people a problem that didn't exist in other department. So these three cases have seen a dedicated public servant doing important work with vulnerable children humiliated, the real victims of Grenfell having yet more reason to feel a sense of injustice and the people of Birmingham having to pay significantly increased council tax along with huge cuts in services, which will inevitably affect the most vulnerable most. All this because a judge was able to reach decisions with no thought for the broader consequences. Surely this has to change?

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