The Employment Practice

The Employment Practice is an important and expanding team in Chambers with a growing reputation. The Practice comprises 15 members of chambers with a wide range of experience and specialist knowledge, regularly acting for nationally known employers as well as for smaller concerns and for employees.

The Practice covers all areas of employment law work including:

Employment and Appellate Tribunals: members of the Practice very frequently appear in Tribunals throughout the country dealing with the whole range of Tribunal work including unfair dismissal, discrimination on grounds of sex, race and disability, TUPE, redundancy, protective awards, maternity rights and miscellaneous claims arising under the ERA and other legislation.

Litigation before the civil courts: Substantial wrongful dismissal claims; restraint of trade covenants; breach of confidence.

Advisory: Advising on a wide range of employment matters including the drafting of contractual terms, the tailoring of restraint clauses and confidentiality clauses and advising on applications for interlocutory injunctions.

Reported cases involving members of chambers include:

Ali v Christian Salvesen [1997] 1 All ER 721 (Court of Appeal) - implied terms as to payment in collectively negotiated agreement.
Warner v Adnet Ltd [1998] IRLR 394 (Court of Appeal) - transfer of undertaking regulations - dismissal for "economic, technical or organisational reason" - redundancy - circumstances in which it is fair to dismiss without consultation.
Stevedoring & Haulage Services Ltd v Fuller [2001] IRLR 651 (Court of Appeal) - whether employees re-engaged as casual labour had a contract of employment, Carmichael v National Power [1988] 1 WLR 2042 considered.
Aparau v Iceland Frozen Foods Plc [2000] 1 All ER 228 (Court of Appeal) - powers of Tribunal when case remitted by EAT.
Lennon v Birmingham City Council [2001] IRLR 826 (Court of Appeal) - claimant who discontinued ET claim estopped from bringing second claim in County Court.
Rothschild Asset Management v Ako [2002] ICR 899 (Court of Appeal) - principles applying to issue estoppel upon the withdrawal and re-issue of claims in the ET.
Hussain v Century Electronics UK Inc Limited [2003] All ER (D) 03 Nov (EAT) - the effect of parallel personal injury claim upon the assessment of compensation in the ET.
London Borough of Hackney v Adams [2003] IRLR 402 (EAT) - award for injury to feelings in union discrimination claim - comparison with awards in race and sex discrimination cases.
Harper v. Virgin Net Limited [2004] IRLR 390 (Court of Appeal) - whether in a claim for wrongful dismissal an employee can recover damages for the loss of opportunity of bringing an unfair dismissal claim.
Hartman v South Essex Mental Health and Community Care NHS Trust [2005] IRLR 293 - The Court of Appeal considered six cases involving what is usually described as "stress at work" under the name of one of the two lead cases.
Igen Ltd v Wong [2005] ICR 931 - the Court of Appeal heard three conjoined appeals on the correct approach to the burden of proof in discrimination cases under section 54A RRA and section 63A SDA.
Miles & Anor v. Gilbank [2006] ICR 12 (EAT); (2006) EWCA CIV 543 (Court of Appeal) - liability of a manager for acts of discrimination by other employees.
Dragonfly Consultancy Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2008] EWCH 2113 (CH); (2008) STC 3030 (intermediary company of IT contractor liable for tax and N.I. under IR35 legislation, as hypothetical contract would be one of employment).

A brief outline of our team follows; detailed CV can be provided on request.

Anthony Higgins (1978) appears for both employers and employees before Tribunals and the Courts (see Stevedoring above). He has particular interest in restraint of trade, breach of confidence and employment generated intellectual property issues.

Neil Vickery (1985) has extensive experience of handling a wide variety of employment matters for employers and employees in the Tribunals and the Courts, including unfair and wrongful dismissal and discrimination cases. He has a particular interest in transfers and undertakings. He was counsel for the employer in Warner v Adnet (see above).

Mark Maitland-Jones (1986) has experience at all levels ranging from Tribunal Hearings up to the Court of Appeal. He has expertise in discrimination claims, particularly those arising under the DDA.

Sinclair Cramsie (1988) is regularly instructed on behalf of both employees and employers on a wide range of employment matters. He has particular expertise in discrimination claims and contractual disputes. He is also interested in employer/employee confidentiality. Recent reported cases include Adams (see above) and Virgin Net (see above). He is an active member of ELAAS.

Edmund Walters (1991) appears and advises in a wide range of employment matters in particular unfair dismissal and discrimination claims.

Susan Chan (1994) has more than 14 years’ experience, specializing in employment law, immigration, personal injury, judicial review and inquests. In 1999, she was appointed to the Attorney-General’s ‘C’ panel of Civil Litigation Counsel and in 2005, was appointed to the ‘B’ panel. Susan is currently on the ‘A’ panel, having been appointed in March 2010. She has appeared as an advocate in the House of Lords and regularly appears in all other courts, including the Court of Appeal, the High Court and employment Appeal tribunal.

Susan has acted for the HMRC in Dragonfly v HMRC (see above) and has advised government departments such as HMRC, Department of Health, DWP and DEFRA on employment issues such as rights of agency workers; intermediaries legislation; collectively bargained agreements; compliance with age discrimination legislation; ‘zero hours’ contracts; Statutory Sick Pay; and the TUPE implications of re-structuring government bodies. Has extensive experience of acting for both claimants and respondents in claims involving all forms of discrimination – particularly race and sex discrimination, unfair dismissal, TUPE, breach of contact, minimum wage enforcement and unlawful deductions claims.

Nigel Woodhouse (1997) has experience of a wide range of employment matters including unfair and wrongful dismissal, sex, race and disability discrimination and unlawful deductions and claims under the working time regulations.

Christopher Mann (1998) has experience in a diverse range of employment matters, including unfair dismissal, redundancy, discrimination and transfer of undertakings cases.

Clare Harrington (1998) appears and advises in a variety of employment cases covering issues such as unfair and constructive dismissal, disability, discrimination and sexual harassment. Most recently she has been instructed in a multi-track breach of contract claim concerning the alleged failure to pay commission payments and a case of sexual harassment involving an allegation of “date rape” against a fellow employee.

Sarah Lippold (1999) regularly appears in Employment Tribunals and advises on a variety of employment matters, including claims of discrimination, unfair and constructive dismissal, harassment and victimisation, health and safety and TUPE.

Richard Owen-Thomas (2000) regularly appears in employment matters in both tribunal and county courts and has particular experience in discrimination cases having represented both employers and employees extensively in matters of sex, race and disability discrimination. Richard also undertakes cases in relation to employer liability for negligence and health and safety issues.

He has extensive experience in both contentious and non-contentious business, including corporate support and employee benefits. He regularly advises on the employment issues surrounding the sale or purchase of business. Other non-contentious work includes drafting policies and procedures, and advising on advertisements and the recruitment process.

Murray Grant (2003) advises on and appears regularly in employment cases in tribunals, the county court and High Court with particular experience in unfair dismissal and discrimination (including discrimination on the grounds of age, disability and part-time working). His expertise extends to the areas of transfers of undertakings, breach of fiduciary duty and the duties of directors

Paul Gurnham (2004) acts for both respondents and claimants. He has represented government departments, local authorities and small businesses. Paul has advised on TUPE matters and on whether a person is an employee. Recent tribunal appearances have included claims for unfair dismissal in a redundancy situation, disability discrimination, sex discrimination and constructive dismissal.

Timothy Brown (2005) undertakes a broad range of civil and regulatory work principally in areas of commercial common law, employment, environmental, local government, property and public law.

Barry Dooley (2008) became a member of Chambers on 1st October 2009, following successful completion of his pupillage. Barry is our most junior member of the team and is currently developing his employment practice, building upon his experience volunteering for the Free Representation Unit.

Our Chambers' policy is to carry out our daily business without direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of race, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, religion or political persuasion.

THE EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE TEAM

Practice Leader: Sinclair Cramsie 1988

We are aware of the importance of selecting the right person, of suitable seniority and experience, to support you. The initial points of contact are Kevin Kelly and Stuart Ritchie. They will be happy to discuss with you the appropriate member of chambers for your case.

Training: We are happy to provide training courses and seminars for clients and prospective clients on current issues in Employment Law. We hold regular seminars with Law Society CPD points at our chambers in London and Oxford.

The Employment Practice also publishes regular bulletins on recent developments in employment law. Please contact the Clerks at clerks@13kbw.co.uk if you wish to subscribe.