Louise is recognised in the legal directories as a leading junior in employment law. She has significant experience in multi-party equal pay litigation as well as complex discrimination and whistleblowing claims. She is skilled at preparing and presenting lengthy, fact rich, document heavy first instance employment cases and also has an appellate practice.
She is regularly instructed on behalf of local authorities, NHS Trusts, police services, financial institutions and other large employers in complex cases and also acts for employees and trade unions.
Louise has been instructed in the Birmingham City Council equal pay litigation (reputed to be the largest ever equal pay case) since 2007, and continues to be instructed by Tesco in ongoing equal pay litigation in the employment tribunal as well as in the appellate courts.
Louise has particular expertise in matters relating to the employment and dismissal of medical practitioners and police officers.
A selection of recent cases
Equal Pay
Louise has experience of a lengthy Stage 2 Equal Value hearing as well as Employment Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal hearings regarding: the meaning of ‘work’ and other matters including the relevance of risks & hazards and working conditions to the question of equal value, disclosure of comparator information ; the validity of a job evaluation scheme and burden of proof; and the meaning of ‘work’ and other matters including the relevance of risks & hazards and working conditions to the question of equal value.
Discrimination and whistleblowing
- Miller v Commissioner of City of London Police v Miller [2024] – a whistleblowing dispute involving a former senior officer in the Special Constabulary
- Smo v Hywel DDA University Health Board [2022] – a complex employment tribunal claim for direct race discrimination, victimisation, unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal in which Louise acted for the respondent against leading counsel and succeeded on all issues, including establishing that a complaint of race discrimination was made in bad faith;
- Shittu v South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust [2022] IRLR 382]– disability discrimination and other matters (EAT);
- The Commissioner of the City of London Police v Geldart [2021] I.C.R. 1329 – sex/maternity discrimination (CA);
- X v a firm [2019] – complex associative discrimination claim involving a vulnerable witness;
- Dahou v Serco Ltd – trade union dismissal claim – went to the Court of Appeal via the EAT and was remitted to the tribunal;
- Kudrath v National Policing Improvement Agency – 5-week ET case about sex and race discrimination. Acted for the Respondent and succeeded in relation to all 62 allegations.
