Legal English 3
Marilyn Michels
Lecturer of Business English
1
,2
,3
, I. PREPARATION: EMPLOYMENT
LAW
1. LET’S GET WARMED UP
A. LET’S TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF TENSES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF EMPLOYMENT LAW.
1. Ms Sarah Smith after having her fourth child asked for a computer to be installed (install) at her home
so that she could do more of her work from home and to have flexible working hours so that she could
have more contact with her children. Her requests were refused (refuse).
2. Adam Michael applied for a job with British Fruit but wasn’t shortlisted (not shortlist) and complained
(complain) to an employment tribunal that this was because he was of black Caribbean origin.
3. John Brown was refused (refuse) a job in a coffee shop in the Waitrose store in Gillingham, Dorset,
because of his beard. Paul Clarkson is dismissed (dismiss) by his employers because he grew (grow)
and refused (refuse) to cut a pony tail in contravention of (= in breach of) his agreement to abide by (=
to follow the rules) the company's dress code.
4. Mrs Diane Knight claimed (claim) she "almost" had a miscarriage as a result of being bullied (bully) by
her boss Michael Hymes at American Express.
5. Judy Hawk was wearing/wore (wear) a trouser suit at her new job as a training manager with the
Professional Golf Association. This was not allowed (not allow) by their dress code which requires
(require) women to wear skirts or dresses.
6. Maria King, a senior lawyer in the Crown Prosecution (= the opposite side of defence in the court
room) Service with 12 years' service, won (win) a claim against the CPS on the basis that her male
former superior repeatedly failed (fail) to promote her after she had achieved (achieve) the required
performance targets while white lawyers were promoted (promote) to management levels.
7. A female employed solicitor named Harriet Parker, who was pregnant, was dismissed (dismiss) for
misconduct. She had to have (have) her baby induced (induce) at 23 weeks. The baby, Maria, was
born alive but died (die) soon afterwards as a result of being premature. To induce < induction (into
the hall of fame) = to start
Lawyers:
Solicitor = the one that is going to actually do the research work
Baristor = the one who’s in front, who talks in court
B. NOW TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT SOME OF THE VOCABULARY FROM THE PREVIOUS EXERCISE.
VERB NOUN VERB NOUN
To employ employment To bully Bullying
To dismiss dismissal To breach Breach
To discriminate discrimination To complain Complaint
To compete Competition To resign Resignation
Competitor
To amend Amendment To demote Demotion
To terminate termination To harass Harassment
To provide Provision To make redundant redundancy
4
Marilyn Michels
Lecturer of Business English
1
,2
,3
, I. PREPARATION: EMPLOYMENT
LAW
1. LET’S GET WARMED UP
A. LET’S TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF TENSES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF EMPLOYMENT LAW.
1. Ms Sarah Smith after having her fourth child asked for a computer to be installed (install) at her home
so that she could do more of her work from home and to have flexible working hours so that she could
have more contact with her children. Her requests were refused (refuse).
2. Adam Michael applied for a job with British Fruit but wasn’t shortlisted (not shortlist) and complained
(complain) to an employment tribunal that this was because he was of black Caribbean origin.
3. John Brown was refused (refuse) a job in a coffee shop in the Waitrose store in Gillingham, Dorset,
because of his beard. Paul Clarkson is dismissed (dismiss) by his employers because he grew (grow)
and refused (refuse) to cut a pony tail in contravention of (= in breach of) his agreement to abide by (=
to follow the rules) the company's dress code.
4. Mrs Diane Knight claimed (claim) she "almost" had a miscarriage as a result of being bullied (bully) by
her boss Michael Hymes at American Express.
5. Judy Hawk was wearing/wore (wear) a trouser suit at her new job as a training manager with the
Professional Golf Association. This was not allowed (not allow) by their dress code which requires
(require) women to wear skirts or dresses.
6. Maria King, a senior lawyer in the Crown Prosecution (= the opposite side of defence in the court
room) Service with 12 years' service, won (win) a claim against the CPS on the basis that her male
former superior repeatedly failed (fail) to promote her after she had achieved (achieve) the required
performance targets while white lawyers were promoted (promote) to management levels.
7. A female employed solicitor named Harriet Parker, who was pregnant, was dismissed (dismiss) for
misconduct. She had to have (have) her baby induced (induce) at 23 weeks. The baby, Maria, was
born alive but died (die) soon afterwards as a result of being premature. To induce < induction (into
the hall of fame) = to start
Lawyers:
Solicitor = the one that is going to actually do the research work
Baristor = the one who’s in front, who talks in court
B. NOW TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT SOME OF THE VOCABULARY FROM THE PREVIOUS EXERCISE.
VERB NOUN VERB NOUN
To employ employment To bully Bullying
To dismiss dismissal To breach Breach
To discriminate discrimination To complain Complaint
To compete Competition To resign Resignation
Competitor
To amend Amendment To demote Demotion
To terminate termination To harass Harassment
To provide Provision To make redundant redundancy
4
