Employment & Discrimination
The Employment and Discrimination Team is a well-established, strong and talented group of barristers with a highly respected and regarded name among clients and peers.
Members are instructed to handle claims at all levels by unions, employees and employers in the private, local government and government sectors.
We can field a strong team of juniors who have a consistently high standard of delivery. You will find we are sound, practical and approachable and offer very good value for money.
Pupils and junior members of the team regularly appear in cases referred by the Free Representation Unit while other members participate in the Bar Pro Bono Scheme and the Employment Appeal Tribunal pro bono scheme (ELAAS).
Two members of the employment and discmination team, Andrew Hogarth QC and Richard Davison also sit as part-time Employment Tribunal Chairmen.
Work Undertaken
Our employment and discrimination law team of 2 silks and 20 junior barristers is available to undertake work at all levels from simple employment Tribunal cases to appearances before the European Court of Justice and the Central Arbitration Committee. As it complements our practice in personal injury litigation all forms of claims leading to psychiatric injuries feature strongly in the work which we do and disability, sex and race discrimination and all forms of stress at work claims are claims in which we have considerable experience. The borderline between personal injury and employment law is a growth area and one in which we are inevitably the chambers of choice. Three members of our team were instructed in Bernadone v Pall Mall Services and two members were instructed in Hatton v Sutherland.
Collective disputes are frequently handled and members of the team have recently been instructed in the Gate Gourmet dispute at Heathrow Airport and on behalf of 11,000 British Airways employees in the collective holiday pay dispute reported under the name of Noble and Forde v British Airways plc.
Experience and Reported Cases
Verma v Barts and the London NHS Trust (UKEAT/0172/10/SM) EAT (Mr Justice Underhill, President) Pay Protection under NHS terms and conditions.
Smith v Morrisroes [2005] ICR 596, [2005] IRLR 72 - Payment for annual leave.
Gallagher v Alpha Flight Services [2005] ICR 673, [2005] IRLR 102 CA - Rest breaks for workers.
Bunce v Postworth [2005] IRLR 557. Status of agency workers
Khudados v Leggate [2005] IRLR 540. Amendment of Notices of Appeal
Hartman v South Essex Mental Healthcare NHS Trust [2005] ICR 782, [2005] IRLR 293 CA. Stress at work
Banks v Ablex Limited [2005] IRLR 357. Liability of employer for harassment at work
Gallagher v Alpha Flight Services [2005] ICR 673, [2005] IRLR 102 CA. Rest breaks for workers
Smith v Morrisroes [2005] ICR 596, [2005] IRLR 72. Payment for annual leave
Securicor Security Ltd v Toujani UKEAT/0050/05/CK 20.4.05: Reversal of burden of proof in discrimination cases
Laing O'Rourke Group Services & ors v Woolf & Jones UKEAT/0038/05/LA 6.5.05: Strike out for non-compliance with tribunal orders
Ball v. London Borough of Waltham Forest - EAT UKEAT/0999/03/TM. 22.10.2004. Reasonable adjustments in Disability Discrimination Act claims.
Saggar v Ministry of Defence [2004] ICR 1708. Territorial reach of the Sex Discrimination Act
Redrow Homes v Wright [2004] ICR 1126, [2004] IRLR 720 CA. Effect of contractual terms on holiday pay
Caulfield v Marshall’s Clay Products [2004] ICR 1502, [2004] IRLR 564 CA. Payment of rolled up holiday pay
Barber v Somerset County Council [2004] ICR 457, [2004] IRLR 475 HL. Stress at work
Securicor Omega Express v GMB [2004] IRLR 9. Consultation in redundancy cases
Hatton v Sutherland [2002] 2 All ER 1 CA - Stress at work
Byrne Bros v Baird [2002] ICR 667 - Definition of workers
The Employment and Discrimination Team
Andrew Hogarth QC
Lincoln Crawford OBE
Richard Davison
Joel Kendall
Richard Viney
Carolyn D’Souza
Simon John
Kweku Aggrey-Orleans
David Callow
Edward Kemp
Emily Gordon Walker
Thomas Pacey
Russell Holland
Emily Read
Lois Aldred
Oliver Rudd
Abha Pandya
Services Available
We represent clients either on a case by case basis or under more general agreements which can either be formal or informal. We act for many unions and companies under long standing agreements under which we provide both representation and advice by barristers of all levels of seniority. Our longest standing employment law client with such an arrangement first instructed us in 1935. Clients with such arrangements are provided with support in the form of lectures and seminars provided to instructing solicitors or, more commonly, to the clients' managers or union officials. We accept instructions direct form a number of major companies and unions.
Mediation
Andrew Hogarth QC acts as a mediator in employment law disputes. All forms of mediation up to non-binding arbitration are offered. The purpose of the service is to ensure that every opportunity for settlement of disputes which are potentially embarrassing or which have industrial relations implications is taken before litigation ensues.