Ijeoma is a highly regarded and very experienced employment and discrimination law specialist. Her directory entry in The Legal 500 2015 states “Simply outstanding and flawless”. Chambers & Partners 2016 says “she has a nice combination of charm and aggression.”
Ijeoma’s employment law practice includes significant experience of complex TUPE matters, industrial action and high court litigation in relation to restrictive covenants and alleged breaches of duty.
Her discrimination expertise covers the whole range of protected characteristics. She has advised and represented Claimants, Respondents and Trade Unions in claims involving allegations direct, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
Cases include:
- Judicial review proceedings concerning a disabled student seeking reasonable adjustments to enable completion of a time-limited post-graduate course of study.
- Advising a group of students in relation to allegedly discriminatory course entry requirements.
- Advising a University in respect of capability and conduct proceedings against a senior academic.
- Advising on the terms and conditions applicable to a seconded employee.
- Advising a local authority on the potential impact of the public sector equality duty on its planned primary school provision.
- Advising an academy school in relation to its obligations to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students.
Her significant reported cases include:
- Onyango v Berkeley t/a Solicitors IRLR 338 EAT
- Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence v. (1) Nursing & Midwifery
- Council (2) Paula Grant – ACD 72
- Coventry City Council v. M Nicholls & Others – IRLR 345
- Unison v. First Secretary of State – IRLR 926
- H Aziz v. Crown Prosecution Service EWCA Civ 1136
- Brooks v. Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis – UKHL 24
- Yearwood v. Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis – ICR 1660
- Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police v. C S Liversidge – ICR 1135
- Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police v. Stubbs – ICR 547
- Chan v. London Borough of Hackney – ICR 1014
- Cleveland Ambulance NHS Trust v. Blane – ICR 851
- Orlando v. Didcot Power Station Sports & Social Club – IRLR 262
- Photostatic Copiers (Southern) Ltd v. Okuda – IRLR 11
Injunctions
Ijeoma has acted for Claimants and Defendants in both the Chancery and Queen’s Bench Divisions of the High Court. She has considerable experience of advisory work, drafting and advocacy in a wide range of claims for injunctive relief. Ijeoma regularly advises clients in claims arising from confidentiality covenants, area and non-dealing covenants, non-solicitation and non-enticement covenants in contracts of employment and other commercial agreements.
Ijeoma has developed an interest in injunctive proceedings in doctors’ professional and personal conduct cases.
Industrial Action
Ijeoma has been instructed to advise both employer and trades union sides in potential and actual industrial action matters. Her most recent experience is within the automotive, transport and health sectors.
Financial Services
Ijeoma has acted for individual employees, groups of employees and for employers in the financial services sector. As well as the more usual employment tribunal claims. Ijeoma has advised and provided representation and support for Claimants and Defendants in equal pay claims, PHI, bonus cases, restrictive covenant, breach of contract and whistleblowing claims. She has also advised and represented individuals who find themselves the subject of interest from their regulator.
Local Government
Ijeoma has drafted and reviewed amendments to disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, social media use, privacy, data protection and redundancy procedures to ensure compliance with relevant legislation.
She has also drafted amendments to maternity, paternity and carers leave provisions and provided advice on the proper application of these policies and procedures.
- Advice that she has given and continues to give includes:
- Advice on proposed amendments to terms and conditions of employment such as varying hours of work, location of work, the withdrawal or reduction of particular allowances such as paid study leave, car user allowances, unsocial hours payments;
- Advice on the enforceability of restrictive covenants in the contracts of senior managers;
- Advice on the implementation and proper conduct of disciplinary and capability procedures in relation to senior managers in local government;
- Advice on the lawfulness and application of voluntary severance and early retirement provisions to senior management team members in local government;
- Advice on potential indirect sex and age discrimination arising from the Local Government Pension Scheme;
- Advice local authorities on the extent of the public sector equality duties in relation to the provision of children’s services, leisure facilities and advisory services;
- Advice on the employment law implications of legislation relating to voluntary aided, foundation, maintained and other schools;
- Advice in relation to the application of TUPE local authority tendering and service provision change exercises.
Ijeoma has recently compromised a constructive dismissal and disability discrimination complaint arising from alleged harassment and less favourable treatment in the assessment and allocation of performance related pay which was brought against a London Borough by a senior employee where there were significant litigation risks.
She successfully advocated and achieved compromise in a complaint of unlawful race victimisation brought against a London borough and a senior employee personally in circumstances where the original discrimination claims brought by the Claimant were unmeritorious but subsequent conduct by the employer gave rise to a persuasive complaint of victimisation. The individual Respondent was initially extremely reluctant to settle notwithstanding the very high likelihood of findings of victimisation being made against them.
In the Employment Appeal Tribunal Ijeoma overturned a finding of disability discrimination made against the governing body of a school in Bristol which had dismissed a teacher on capability grounds.
In the employment tribunal she successfully defended a serious complaint of direct sex discrimination, harassment and victimisation brought by the human resources director of a metropolitan local authority.
She also has comprehensive experience of both single claimant and multi-claimant equal pay litigation; acting both for and against local authorities and has advised and litigated to judgment like-work, work rated as equivalent and equal value claims. She has conducted preliminary hearings on the full range of jurisdictional issues and conducted complex genuine material factor defence hearings.
Education
Ijeoma has considerable experience of advisory work and litigation in the schools, university and higher and further education sectors.
She is instructed on behalf of individuals and trade union clients as well as by schools, academies, universities and colleges in a wide range of governance and employment-related matters.
Ijeoma has provided advice and representation to prospective students on entrance requirements, reasonable adjustments, grading and academic disputes. She also regularly advises workers, employees and institutions in relation to safe-guarding matters, grading and contractual disputes, redundancy, industrial action and collective disputes, complex grievance, harassment and disciplinary cases including those involving whistle-blowers and/or allegations of unlawful discrimination and victimisation across the protected characteristics.
In the university and further and higher education sectors Ijeoma has acted as adviser to the Board of Visitors. She has been instructed to undertake grievance, bullying and harassment investigations and to make appropriate recommendations. In addition, Ijeoma has been instructed by a number of universities in judicial review and injunction proceedings. She has also acted for students in judicial review and breach of contract claims.
Cases:
- Judicial review proceedings concerning a disabled student seeking reasonable adjustments to enable completion of a time-limited post-graduate course of study;
- Advising a group of students in relation to allegedly discriminatory course entry requirements
Advising a university in respect of capability and conduct proceedings against a senior academic; - Advising on the terms and conditions applicable to a seconded employee;
- Advising a local authority on the potential impact of the public sector equality duty on its planned primary school provision;
- Advising an academy school in relation to its obligations to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students.