News & Events
News & Events
David Grant KC and Naomi Cunningham will be speaking at the Employment Lawyers Association Annual Conference 2025 on Thursday 15th May in London. The Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) is an apolitical organisation representing the views and interests of just under 7,000 specialist, qualified employment lawyers in the UK. The ELA Annual Conference 2025 will be taking place on Wednesday 15th May 2025 at Convene Houndsditch in London. The Conference, taking place from 9:45am to 5:30pm, will be followed by a drinks reception and dinner. David Grant KC of Outer Temple Chambers will be speaking alongside Carla Watling of Lewis Silkin on ‘Crossing the line: when do employees and fiduciaries preparing to compete act unlawfully?’ The talk will be Chaired by Alice…
News 15 May, 2025
Outer Temple’s Employment Law barristers Sapan Maini-Thompson and Charlotte Elves have been published in the May 2025 ELA Briefing in a case analysis on the landmark decision of ‘For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers’. Outer Temple’s Sapan Maini-Thompson and Charlotte Elves have written a case analysis for the May 2025 ELA Briefing. In the landmark decision of For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers, the Supreme Court has ruled that the protected characteristic of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act has a biological definition and the acquisition of a Gender Recognition Certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 does not change a person’s sex in equalities legislation. In this article, Sapan and Charlotte have covered the relationship between the Gender Recognition Act…
External Publications, News 1 May, 2025
For a long time, one of the hottest and most contentious questions in Equality & Diversity has been “What is a woman?” Last week, the Supreme Court answered this question in a ruling that is set to cause rewrites of policies up and down the UK. There have been various suggested answers to this question: anyone who says they are a woman; biological women plus trans-women who hold GRCs; or just biological women. Last week, the Supreme Court answered the question, at least so far as the Equality Act is concerned: a woman is someone who is biologically female. As the judges were at pains to point out, that doesn’t undermine the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. Those with that…
News 23 Apr, 2025
Martina Murphy and Jessica Franklin have been published in the Discrimination Law Association Briefings paper dissecting the case of British Airways Plc v Rollett & Others [2024] EAT 131. Martina Murphy’s and Jessica Franklin’s article titled ‘A new class of claimant in discrimination law’ was included in the DLA March 2025 Briefing Paper (Volume 84, 1113-1126) following the decision of the EAT in British Airways Plc v Rollett & Others (where they acted for the claimants). The claimants, who numbered 49 at the time of the original preliminary hearing, were Heathrow-based cabin crew. Their claims arose out of restructuring and scheduling changes undertaken by BA in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The claimants alleged that the scheduling changes put those (predominantly non British nationals)…
External Publications, News 3 Apr, 2025
Outer Temple’s Employment Law barristers Martina Murphy and Jessica Franklin have been published in the April 2025 ELA Briefing in an article titled ‘Section 19A of the Equality Act: a new chapter in discrimination legislation.’ Martina Murphy and Jessica Franklin of Outer Temple Chambers have written an article with Clare Armstrong of the Equality and Human Rights Commission for the April 2025 ELA Briefing. In this article, Martina, Jessica and Clare discuss the decision of the EAT in Rollett and the new s19A Equality Act, and its implications for practitioners. Martina and Jessica acted for the claimants in the case of British Airways Plc v Rollett & Others, Minister for Women and Equalities intervening. To read the full article ‘Section 19A…
External Publications, News 1 Apr, 2025
The Employment Tribunal handed down judgment in the case of Mr S Kalar v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, dismissing all claims brought against the Metropolitan Police. Martina Murphy acted for the successful Respondent. Mr S Kalar had been employed as a police officer by the Metropolitan Police from 1993 until he retired in 2023. Mr Kalar brought wide-ranging discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010 in relation to both race and disability and whistleblowing claims under the Employment Rights Act 1996 comprising over 270 individual allegations. The Claimant referred to an “an overarching culture of institutional racism, misogyny and disablism” with allegations spanning several years. The case also involved procedural issues concerning grievance handling, medical accommodations due…
News 19 Mar, 2025
Scotland’s leading political and current affairs publication, Holyrood, has interviewed women’s rights barrister Naomi Cunningham for their latest International Women’s Day feature. Instructed on yet another prominent case relating to the issue of sex and gender, Naomi Cunningham has carved herself a niche career acting for those accused of discrimination based on their protected ‘gender-based’ beliefs. The latest employment tribunal, Peggie v Fife Health Board, has reignited a political debate in both Holyrood and Westminster, and Holyrood magazine invited Naomi for an interview to find out more about her motivation to defend cases such as these, and her rise to fame in this arena. Naomi tells Holyrood Editor, Mandy Rhodes, that the whole debate is simply a matter of ‘fact…
External Publications 10 Mar, 2025
Oliver Lawrence successfully represented the Defendant before HHJ Watson (sitting as a High Court Judge) in Birmingham. The application for a non-compete injunction was brought by a catering company against one of its former managers. The injunction sought would have prevented the employee from working for a competitor for six months after the termination of his employment. The main issue in the case was whether the non-compete covenant was drafted too broadly to be enforceable. It was found to be too wide. The contractual wording was insufficient to tie the prohibited activities to the sector of the former employee. The absence of a geographical restriction meant that the non-compete operated globally. The clause also forbade the employee from being involved…
News 11 Feb, 2025
The Employment Tribunal handed down judgment on Friday 31st January 2025 in the landmark equal pay claim for Asda workers. Andrew Short KC, Paul Livingston and Victoria Brown, instructed by Leigh Day, acted for the Claimants. The ET found in favour of 12 female lead claimants, represented by Andrew, Paul and Victoria, determining that they have established equal value with at least one of the male comparators. Asda’s female workers launched their claim in 2014 against their employer based on the fact that the predominantly female retail workforce is paid less than the predominantly male depot workforce per hour. The recent decision means tens of thousands of Asda shop floor workers have now established their work was of equal value…
News 6 Feb, 2025
Naomi Cunningham represented the Claimant, Sandy Peggie in a two-day ET hearing in Nov 2024, where she successfully opposed the application for a private hearing and anonymity order. The full trial starts on 3rd February 2025. Sandie Peggie is a female nurse. Beth Upton is a doctor identifying as a woman, and has been given permission to use women’s facilities in the hospital. Peggie objected to Dr Upton’s presence in the changing room she uses and, having failed to get any support from management, on the third occasion she encountered Upton there she said she didn’t think they ought to be there, and it was making her feel uncomfortable. A complaint of bullying was made against Peggie, she was suspended…
News 3 Feb, 2025
Employment Law barristers Monique Bouffé and Chevan Ilangaratne will be speaking at ELA’s annual refresher course ‘What’s New in Employment Law’ on Wednesday 29th January 2025. The Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) is a apolitical organisation representing the views and interests of just over 6,000 specialist, qualified employment lawyers in the UK. Since its inception in 1992, ELA has become the voice of authority in employment law. It promotes the best practice of employment law. ELA’s refresher course ‘What’s New in Employment Law’ is aimed at those who have been out of practice for a period over the past year, or who are looking for a round-up of developments in 2024. The course flags up cases and other developments which will…
News 21 Jan, 2025
Jessica Franklin successfully represented the Claimant, a dog handler, in a claim against the SoS for Justice for indirect discrimination and victimisation. The Claimant is a drug-detection dog handler at HMP Pentonville. The Claimant was granted partial retirement to care for her elderly father. The Tribunal found that the decision to grant the Claimant partial retirement was met with “disappointment and irritation” by the Claimant’s managers and that they tried to make “the practical application of [her partial retirement] as difficult as possible for the Claimant”. Following her partial retirement, the Claimant applied to work a shift pattern with fewer weekends so that she could meet her caring responsibilities. This was repeatedly refused by her managers. The Tribunal upheld all the…
News 6 Jan, 2025
