Employment Law

Matrix’s employment law team provides a wealth of experience across all areas of employment law, providing advice, advocacy, training and expertise for both claimants and defendants/respondents.

Matrix barristers act in cases at all levels, from first-instance proceedings in the High Court or Employment Tribunal to appeals in the Supreme Court, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. Our experience also extends to providing advice and representation in the Central Arbitration Committee and before regulatory and disciplinary bodies as well as mediation and arbitration. Our members, renowned for their independence and thoroughness, are increasingly in demand for internal investigations – we conduct audits, grievance and disciplinary investigations with focus and impartiality.

Our work is frequently pioneering and of far-reaching importance, and the team has the advantage of bringing together barristers at Matrix who also specialise in different areas of law that intersect with employment law. These include discrimination and equality, education and other areas of public and administrative law, human rights law, commercial law, EU law (including the free movement of workers regime), and media and data protection.

We are user-friendly and accessible, and provide a prompt and high-quality service. The practice team have a deep understanding of the employment law world, and are always willing to offer creative solutions for clients. Members are often instructed on different sides in the same litigation and we have strong procedures in place for ensuring complete confidentiality within Matrix.

We are also active in the employment law community, working with Advocate, the Employment Law Appeal Advice Scheme, and the main professional organisations. Our members are frequently invited to speak at conferences, training events and live broadcasts, and we write regularly on employment law issues.

Injunctions Hotline

Matrix has a team of barristers with extensive experience in applying for injunctions and responding to such application in commercial and employment cases, including breach of contract, restrictive covenants, team moves, garden leave, confidential information, ‘springboard’ injunctions, search orders, and freezing orders. All our staff are able to assist you with these enquiries, but if you require urgent assistance at any time, you can call out dedicated injunctions hotline: +44(0)20 7611 7977.

Notable recent cases:

Supreme Court

Gilham v Ministry of Justice. [2020] IRLR 52. Worker status, whistleblowing and judges.
Tillman v Egon Zehnder [2020] AC 194. Restraint of Trade.
Pimlico Plumbers and another v Smith [2018] ICR 1511. Worker Status.
R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor (Equality and Human Rights Commission and another intervening) (Nos 1 and 2) [2017] ICR 1037. Access to justice, EU law and discrimination.
Essop and others v Home Office (UK Border Agency); Naeem v Secretary of State for Justice [2017] 1 WLR 1343. Indirect discrimination, race and age discrimination.

Court of Appeal

Heskett v Secretary of State for Justice [2020] EWCA Civ 1487. Costs, justification and indirect discrimination.
Bamieh v Foreign & Commonwealth Office [2020] ICR 465. Whistleblowing and territorial jurisdiction.
Brown v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and Anor [2020] 1 WLR 1257. Application of Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting to mixed claims.
Okedina v Chikale [2019] ICR 1635: Contract, illegality and immigration status.
Harpur Trust v Brazel [2019] IRLR 1012. Holiday pay. Due to be heard in the Supreme Court in 2021.
Graysons Restaurants Ltd v Jones and others [2019] IRLR 649. TUPE, equal pay and insolvency.
Jeffery v British Council [2019] IRLR 827. Territorial jurisdiction.
Wilsons Solicitors v Roberts [2018] EWCA Civ 52. Whistleblowing, damages.
Nurmohamed v Chestertons [2018] ICR 731. Whistleblowing, public interest test.
Abrahall v Nottingham City Council [2018] IRLR 628. Unilateral variation of contract.
Air Products v Cockram [2018] IRLR 755. Age discrimination.
Krishna Moorthy v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2018] ICR 1326. Injury to feelings award and tax.
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2018] ICR 1807 – Validity of Employment Tribunal Rules.

Employment Appeal Tribunal, High Court and Employment Tribunal

Gynedd Council v Barrat and another [2020] IRLR. Redundancy.
Heal v Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford and others [2020] ICR 1294. Contempt of Court Act and reasonable adjustments.
Ince Gordon Dadds LLP v Tunstall [2020] ICR 124. Scope of the statutory moratorium which applies to legal proceedings against a company in administration.
Robinson v Al-Qasimi [2020] IRLR 345. Whistleblowing. Due to be heard in the Court of Appeal in 2021.
Gan Menachem Hendon Ltd v De Groen [2019] ICR 1023. Sex and religious discrimination.
Ameyaw v PricewaterhouseCoopers Services Limited [2019] IRLR 611. Whether an ET has the power to exclude or remove a judgment from the public register of judgments.

Other

Benyatov v Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd [2020] 1 WLR 2913 – High Court – Employer’s duty for employees’ economic losses and the employer’s implied indemnity.
Square Global Ltd v Leonard [2020] EWHC 1008. High Court – restraint of trade financial services trial, enforcing non-compete restrictions for 12 months.
Antuzis v DJ Houghton Catching Services Ltd [2019] EWHC 843 – Personal liability of company directors
Beal and others v Avery Homes and others – major High Court equal pay proceedings
Samira Ahmed v BBC, high profile equal pay claim against the BBC.

This snapshot of some of our most recent cases demonstrates that our members are in demand for the most high-profile, high value, and legally challenging employment cases in the UK, often acting for different sides in the same dispute. Our directory rankings and the sheer number of reported cases earned by members of the team testify to the stature of the Matrix employment team.

Blogs, Articles and Downloads

Coronavirus – Some Key Rights at Work by Darryl Hutcheon
An Obligation to Furlough? by Darryl Hutcheon
The Mechanics of Placing Someone on Furlough by Mathew Purchase
Coronavirus and the Frustration of Employment Contracts by Mark Greaves

Talk for Discrimination Law Conference 2020, January 2020 – Claire Darwin
Talk for Employment Law Association of Ireland on Gender Pay Gap Reporting in UK – Claire Darwin
Talk for Employment Lawyers’ Association on Whistleblowing and Discrimination Claims involving Directors, Partners and LLPs, June 2019 – Claire Darwin
ELA Seminar Paper on Common but controversial contract clauses – Andrew Smith
ELA Seminar Paper on Corporate Law for Employment Lawyers – Andrew Smith
Equal Pay: The material factor defence (Practical Law) – Laura Prince
Equal Pay: Comparators (Practical Law) – Laura Prince
Disability Discrimination (Practical Law) – Mathew Purchase
Territorial Scope of Statutory Employment Rights (Practical Law) – Claire Darwin
TUPE and cross-border transfers (Practical Law) – Claire Darwin

These articles and downloads are made available for general information purposes only. The contents of them do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such advice. The author and Matrix Chambers do not accept responsibility for the continuing accuracy of its contents.  