Employment & Discrimination

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The Employment Team at Doughty Street Chambers covers all areas of employment and discrimination work.

However, this team is particularly well regarded for its specialisations in:

• Collective labour law
• All types of discrimination cases (whether in the workplace or outside)
• Proceedings, including judicial review applications, involving public sector workers and office-holders.

Our team increasingly undertakes disciplinary and regulatory work across a wide range of professional and work groups.

Members appear in all courts and tribunals up to and including the House of Lords and the European Courts.

Members practise in other areas and the team is uniquely placed to draw on its expertise in these. Team members are listed in Chambers & Partners Directory 2009 across a range of subjects including

• administrative & public law
• civil liberties
• defamation/privacy
• police law
• local government & housing
• as well as for employment law.

The team includes an Employment Judge as well as specialist trainers on discrimination issues for the Council of Europe, TUC, Bar Council and the Legal Services Commission.

Team members are currently working on a major new equality and discrimination text for the Oxford University Press. In 2008, OUP also published Henrietta Hill's Promoting Equality and Diversity: A Practitioner's Guide.

Team Members

Cases

Recent Cases Include:

• Lynford v Sussex Police, [2011]
  In 2007, Henrietta Hill appeared in this sex discrimination claim brought by the only female officer in the Gatwick Airport firearms squad, in which the Tribunal awarded the Claimant over £300,000 in damages. In January 2011, she successfully defended the Force's appeal against the amount of the remedy. The Force's appeal was dismissed at a preliminary hearing before the EAT.
  
  
• O'Reilly v British Broadcasting Corporation and anr [2010] - Heather Williams QC and Amanda Hart acting successfully on behalf former presenter Miriam O'Reilly in bringing claims against the BBC for age discrimination and victimisation.
  
  
• Equal Pay claims - Gavin Millar QC is acting for tens of thousands of claimants in the equal pay "multiples" issued against local authorities in the North West and North East of England and across Wales.
  
  
• Bennett v Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority [2010] - The Employment Tribunal found a Firefighter's right to freedom of expression under Article 10 had been violated and awards £80,000 compensation for his unfair dismissal.
  
  
• R(G) -v- Governors of X School and Y City Council [2010] IRLR 222 - A Court of Appeal decision concerning the application of Article 6 ECHR to internal disciplinary hearings in which serious allegations of criminal conduct are made by an employer against an employee.
• Copple & Ors v Littlewoods Plc & Ors [2010] - A case concerning part-time workers and their access to a voluntary pension scheme.
  
  
• TDG Chemical Ltd v Benton [2010] - A case concerning the level of investigation required when an employee faces an allegation of gross misconduct.
  
  
• South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority v Beever & Ors [2010] - A case concerning the claimants entitlement to payments under the Continual Professional Development Scheme despite not meeting the target attendance levels.
  
• Aziz v The Crown Prosecution Service [2010] - The Claimant was successful in her claim of race discrimination against the Crown Prosecution Service in 2004. In 2008, Ms. Aziz was awarded over £650,000 in damages including an award for aggravated damages. Now Ms. Aziz faces a further challenge as the CPS seeks to defend the reputation of senior managers by appealing the award of aggravated damages in the EAT.
  
  
• Aslam v The British Broadcasting Corporation [2010] - The Claimant, a highly respected television and radio journalist was successful in her claim for unfair dismissal.
  
  
• Bijlani v Stewart, Wiseman, Fenwick and Powell [2009] - A claim for race and disability discrimination brought by a barrister, Dr. Bijlani, against three former heads of chambers at 4 New Square, and the Senior Clerk Mrs. Wiseman.
  
  
• Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police v Caston [2009] All ER (D) 237 (Jun) - The EAT held that the Claimant's mental ill health was an exceptional circumstance entitling him to extend time limits in a disability discrimination case.
  
  
• Matuszowicz v Hull City Council [2009] IRLR 288 - A Court of Appeal case concerning the time limits in a claim for reasonable adjustment.
  
  
• El-Megrisi v Azad University (IR) in Oxford [2009] All ER (D) 293 (Jul) - In this case the EAT held that the cumulative impact of a number of disclosures that should be considered.
  
  
• The Staff Side of the Police Negotiating Board v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] EWHC 1173 (Admin) - A judicial review of the Home Secretary's refusal to implement the 2007 pay award of the Police Arbitration Tribunal.
  
  
• Oyarce v Cheshire County Council [2008] EWCA Civ 434 - A case concerning the reverse burden of proof in victimization claims.
  
  
• Watt v Ahsan (HL(E)) [2008] ICR - A House of Lords case concerning the jurisdiction of employment tribunals in race discrimination cases.
  
  
• 
  Lynford v Chief Constable of Sussex [2007] - Henrietta Hill appeared in this sex discrimination claim brought by the only female officer in the Gatwick Airport firearms squad, in which the Tribunal awarded the Claimant over £300,000 in damages. This is believed to be one of the highest awards ever made to a public sector employee in a discrimination case.
  
  
• R (Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre & anor) v The Trustees of the Natural History Museum [2007] - A case concerning whether the Natural History Museum was in breach of its public duty to promote good race relations in approach adopted to the return of aboriginal remains in its custody.
  
  
• Couronne & Ors v Crawley BC [2007] EWCA Civ 1086 - Whether habitual residence test for Part VII eligibility and jobseekers allowance unlawfully discriminates on racial grounds between Irish claimants and British claimants from the Chagos Islands or is irrational - whether discrimination is within exception to Race Relations Act 1976 - whether discrimination is prohibited by European Community Race Directive.
  
  
• O'Hanlon v Revenue & Customs Commissioners (CA) [2007] ICR 1359 - A Court of Appeal case regarding the Disability Discrimination Act and sick pay.
  
  
• Esfandiari & Ors v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2006] EWCA Civ 282 - whether condition for funeral payment that burial takes place in United Kingdom is discrimination contrary to ECHR 14
  
  
• North Wales Training and Enterprise Council Ltd v Astley and others (HL(E)) [2006] ICR 992 - A case concerning the application of the Acquired Rights Directive
  
  
• CELTEC Ltd. v Astley and others (ECJ) [2005] ICR 1409 - A case concerning the interpretation of the Acquired Rights Directive

 

What the Directories say

Chambers and Partners, 2011

Henrietta Hill of Doughty Street Chambers, who garners recognition for her "practical advice and succinct presentation of complex matters." Friendly and approachable, she relates well to her clients, as does stablemate Gavin Millar QC, a top-class advocate who poses a tough challenge to the opposition.

He is recommended along with Paul Draycott of Doughty Street Chambers, who "can't be beaten in terms of the thoroughness of his advice," according to sources

Chambers and Partners, 2010

Gavin Millar QC of Doughty Street Chambers is "a fantastic advocate" who "thinks quickly on his feet and responds well to testing questions." He is part of a set that includes Henrietta Hill, "a very switched-on advocate who is hugely cost-effective." To the delight of her clients, "she always has time to consider questions on a case and provide constructive, tactical advice."

Chambers & Partners, 2009

"Personable, straightforward and immensely hard-working," Gavin Millar QC leads the employment law team at Doughty Street Chambers. He focuses on discrimination and trade union law, often representing public sector workers, and regularly represents police officers through the Police Federation. He recently acted for the Labour Party in the House of Lords in Watt v Ahsan, a race discrimination case concerning employment tribunal jurisdiction in the context of candidate selections by political parties. Also at Doughty Street Chambers, Henrietta Hill is making a name for herself by achieving good results in multiparty and discrimination claims. She is "bright, proactive and great at getting to the heart of an issue." An "enthusiastic all-rounder who is excellent value for money," she specialises in discrimination law, claims against the police, inquests and related public law work. In 2007 she represented the claimant in Lynford v Chief Constable of Sussex, a sex discrimination claim brought by the only female officer in the Gatwick Airport firearms squad.