Employment & Discrimination

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The Employment Team at Doughty Street team comprises two Queen's Counsel and twelve juniors.

The work of the team fits closely with Chambers' core ethos of defending individual rights and freedoms. Members generally, albeit not exclusively, represent Claimants, and are frequently instructed by trade unions, the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission. Although all areas of employment law are covered, there is a particular emphasis on industrial, trade union, discrimination, equal pay and public law. A number of members have come to the Bar from the trade union movement.

Members of the team appear in employment and discrimination cases in all courts and tribunals, up to the House of Lords and the European courts. Increasingly members also appear before professional disciplinary bodies. They are often able to bring experience and knowledge in complementary areas of law to their employment cases. These areas include human rights, privacy, confidentiality, media, pensions and health and safety law.

Recent reported undertaken by team members include Celtec v Astley [2006] IRLR 635 (the ECJ and House of Lords case on the Acquired Rights Directive)); O'Hanlon v Revenue & Customs Commissioners [2006] ICR 1579 (a leading case on the effect of the Disability Discrimination Act on employers' sick pay policies); Khan v Royal Mail Plc [2006] EWCA Civ 2 (addressing time limits in a race discrimination claim); Zhang v CMC Plc [2006] EWCA Civ 408 (relating to compromise agreements/penalties); Carter v Ahsan [2005] ICR 1817 (a race discrimination case concerning Employment Tribunal jurisdiction, in the context of candidate selections by political parties); Office of National Statistics v Ali [2005] IRLR 201 (amendment in discrimination claims); Spicer v Government of Spain [2005] ICR 213 (the elements of a claim for indirect discrimination in relation to pay); Republic of Yemen v Aziz [2005] ICR 1391 (unfair dismissal/state immunity); and R (McGinley) v Schilling [2005] ICR 1282, CA (the date on which police pension questions should be determined on appeal).

Other high profile cases in which team members have recently been instructed include the Julie Bower case (who obtained then record damages of nearly £1.5 million for sex discrimination); Baskerville v Hampshire Constabulary (addressing the constructive liability of Chief Constables); Fearon v Chief Constable of Derbyshire (EAT, a claim of a continuing act of race discrimination spanning 19 years); litigation brought by Gurkha soldiers against the MoD (Thapa v MoD, Budha v MoD and Gurung v MoD); and what is understood to be the first employment tribunal case to hear evidence via video link under the Human Rights Act 1998 (Sharma v Arani).

Practitioners are involved in a range of organisations committed to workers' rights and combating discrimination, lecture regularly, and have published widely in journals and books. The team includes specialist trainers on discrimination issues for the Council of Europe, the TUC, the Bar Council and the Legal Services Commission, a part-time Employment Tribunal Chair, a former Chair of the Discrimination Law Association, a delegate on a recent TUC mission to monitor the persecution of trade unionists in Colombia, and the author of Blackstone's Guide to the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000.

The Employment Team aims to provide an efficient, approachable and friendly service. Guaranteed turnaround times are offered on written work. We also provide in-house seminars for solicitors, and internal training for our pupils, several of whom volunteer for the Free Representation Unit.

last updated February 2007

Team Members

What the Directories say

Chambers & Partners Guide to the Legal Profession, 2007

Gavin Millar QC of Doughty Street Chambers enjoys a varied practice handling employment cases alongside his media, defamation and public work. He often represents public sector workers and office holders.