Employment & Equality

Working for Equality

Recent

News

We offer a high quality service in all areas of employment and equality law.

Equality Law:

Members of the team act in all areas of equality law whether involving discrimination on the grounds of sex, gender reassignment, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief and age or under Article 14 of the European Convention. Members are currently instructed in a number of equal pay multiple claims in the North of England and in Scotland. Our expertise covers equality law in and out of the workplace. We regularly advise on the scope of public authority positive duties.

Labour Law:

We cover all areas of individual and collective labour law: unfair dismissal, redundancy, breach of contract, deductions from wages, workplace injury, individual and collective trade union rights, injunctions, whistle blowing, professional disciplinary hearings and proceedings before the Central Arbitration Committee. We regularly act for unions.

Professional Standards:

Team members have defended claims before a range of professional bodies including the GMC, NMC and CIPFA.. We have expertise before the Care Standards Tribunal.

Other Areas:

Members of this team have expertise and experience in the related fields of public law, personal injury law, education and human rights and we are able to draw on this expertise where helpful.

Litigation:

Advice and representation is provided to the highest standards. We pride ourselves on our thorough preparation and our client skills, whether in the Employment Tribunal, County or High Court. As Appellate Advocates, we present cases at all levels from the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal to the House of Lords, European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights.

Mediation:

As well as acting and advising in litigation, we are able to act in workplace mediations. Some of our members are also trained mediators and are able to offer a mediation service which can be trusted by employees as well as employers. mediation

Transnational Employment Issues:

Within the team, we can offer expert advice to international NGOS on transnational employment issues relating to several countries, and particularly in Asia.

Labour Trafficking:

The Team contains expertise on labour trafficking and the rights of migrant workers generally.

Recent cases include:

Potter and others v North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (period of evaluation in equal pay cases) UKEAT/004/08 April 17th 2008.
John Reaney v Hereford Diocesan Board of Finance, 2007 [sexual orientation and the Church of England]
Babula v Waltham Forest College [2007] ECWA Civ 174; IRLR 346 CA

Further Information

Further information about individual members of our Employment and Equality team can be obtained using the links to the right. You can also contact our clerks directly:

David Smith 020 7842 7608 david.smith@tooks.co.uk
Simon Gardner 020 7842 7610 simon.gardner@tooks.co.uk

Recent news

Article 4 Claims In Strasbourg
Two separate claims brought under Article 4 have been communicated to the UK. Sandhya Drew has made submissions for the EHRC which is intervening in one case, and acts for the Applicant in the other.
12 July 2010
Chambers UK 2011 - Tooks Barristers Featured as Leaders at the Bar
Tooks barristers continue to score in the latest edition of Chambers UK, due to be published in November 2010. Individual members have been recognised in Administrative and Public Law; Civil Liberties; Crime; Employment; Immigration and Police law.
2 July 2010
3 Court of Appeal Judgments in Secret Evidence Cases
Judgments restricting the extent of secret evidence in various jurisdictions were handed down today. Paul Troop was junior counsel for the Claimant in Home Office v Tariq.
4 May 2010
Birmingham City Council Workers in Unprecedented Equal Pay Victory
Sarah Bourke was junior counsel for the successful non-union claimants in what is believed to be the largest ever claim against a public authority in Europe
28 April 2010
Jane Russell to Speak at ERA Seminar in Trier 12th April 2010
This seminar is part of a series that ERA has organised every year since 2003 devoted to the two European anti-discrimination directives adopted under Article 19 TFEU (Article 13 TEC).
12 April 2010
Eminent Consultant Psychiatrist Has Finding of Unfair Dismissal Restored by Court of Appeal
Dr Sameer Sarkar had been dismissed from his position at Broadmoor for non clinical reasons. The Employment Tribunal had held that his employers had acted unreasonably in sabotaging an internal initial resolution but that had been overturned by the EAT.
19 March 2010
Sandhya Drew to Speak at the Equality & Human Rights Conference of NICEM
On the 12th February, Sandhya Drew will be speaking in Belfast on recent judicial review caselaw at the Equality and Human Rights Conference of the Northern Ireland Centre for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM).
28 January 2010
New Years Honours List 2010
Peter Herbert awarded OBE!
5 January 2010
Tooks Expertise Recognised by Chambers UK 2010
In the latest edition of Chambers UK published on the 11th November 2009 Tooks has been recognised as a leading set in Civil Liberties, Crime, Immigration and Police Law. Individual members have been recognised in Administrative and Public Law, Dispute Resolution and Employment.
12 November 2009
Sandhya Drew Training at Seminar for the Judiciary in Trier
Sandhya Drew will be training the judiciary from a variety of European jurisdictions on Equal Pay at a seminar run by the Academy of European Law at Trier on 9 - 10 November 2009.
30 October 2009

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