Georgina has built a thriving statutory trial, appellate, drafting and advisory employment & discrimination practice and enjoys repeat instructions from loyal clients at tier 1 Claimant, Senior Executive and Respondent employment firms. She acts in novel, complex and high value litigation at first instance and on appeal.
She is an experienced trial and appellate advocate and has appeared unled in over 35 employment & discrimination trials up to 4 weeks in length, on four occasions unled in the EAT and twice led in the Court of Appeal in precedent setting litigation that has shaped employment law.
She acts for Claimants, Senior Executives and Respondents across a range of sectors, in the full spectrum of individual, collective, commercial and international employment law as well as discrimination law in employment education, goods and services and sports disputes.
- Within whistleblowing law, she is presently instructed on a number of cases considering the scope of protection under the Employment Rights Act for in house legal counsel and the law of privilege. She has spoken on this topic with Jeremy Lewis KC for ELA, and more broadly on Whistleblowing in the financial services sector with Niran de Silva KC and strike out of Whistleblowing claims with Daniel Tatton-Brown KC.
- Within discrimination law, her practice is increasingly focused on pregnancy and maternity and family friendly rights, sex, equal pay, disability and philosophical and religious belief
- Within remuneration disputes, she is currently instructed in number of high value bonus and deferred compensation disputes for Senior Executives and Respondent clients working in the Investment Banking, Asset Management and Private Equity Sectors. She recently spoke on Bonus Disputes with Lucy Bone at the Littleton Annual Employment Day.
She is increasingly instructed for clients working in the financial services, private equity, asset management sector, fintech and professional services sector, but has also represented clients in the media, tech, insurance, NHS, higher education, charity and civil service sectors. Her clients strongly benefit from her balanced practice, which is split roughly 50/50 between Claimant/Senior Executive and Respondent work.
A selection of Georgina’s trial, appellate and advisory experience is set out below.
APPELLATE WORK
Court of Appeal
Georgina has experience appearing as junior counsel and drafting grounds of appeal, skeleton arguments and costs protection applications in appeals.
- Ibrahim v HCA International Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 2007(led by Jeremy Lewis KC). Appeal clarifying the operation of the subjective limb of the public interest test in Chesterton v Nurmohamed [Whistleblowing].
- Gomes v Higher Level Care Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 418 (led). This is the leading case on compensation for breaches of the Working Time Directive and was one of Michael Rubenstein’s top employment cases to watch owing to the case’s significant implications for the protection of workers’ rights. Georgina acted at all stages of proceedings [Working Time].
- Chesterton Global Ltd v Nurmohamed [2017] EWCA Civ 979 (as a judicial assistant). Whistleblowing appeal concerning the public interest test under s43A ERA 1996 [Whistleblowing].
- Interim Executive Board of Al Harij School v Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills [2017] EWCA Civ 1787 (as a judicial assistant). Discrimination appeal concerning the concept of direct mirrored sex discrimination and segregation in schools [Discrimination].
- Brogden v Investec Bank Plc [2016] EWCA Civ 1031 (as a judicial assistant). Breach of contract appeal concerning bankers’ bonuses [Commercial, Breach of Contract].
Employment Appeal Tribunal
Owing to her prior experience as a Law Lecturer and experience working as a Judicial Assistant in the Court of Appeal, Georgina is often instructed as sole counsel to draft grounds of appeal, skeleton arguments and to appear unled in the EAT. Her recent experience includes being:
- Successfully obtaining permission to appeal to the EAT in a case concerning the meaning of “related to” under s18 of the Equality Act, to be heard in 2023 where Georgina will appear unled [Equality Act Claims – Harassment].
- Jackson v The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust [2023] EAT 102 (unled) Georgina appeared for the successful appellant in challenging the ET’s findings in respect of their approach to Hogg v Dover dismissals. [Unfair Dismissal – Hogg v Dover College dismissals].
- Wilkinson v DVSA [2022] EAT 23(unled) Georgina appeared for the successful appellant in challenging the ET’s findings in respect of reductions to the compensatory award for contributory conduct [Unfair Dismissal – Contributory Conduct & Polkey reductions].
- Gomes v Higher Level Care [2016] IRLR 678(unled). This is the leading case on compensation for breaches of the Working Time Directive and was one of Michael Rubenstein’s top employment cases to watch owing to the case’s significant implications for the protection of workers’ rights [Working Time].
TRIALS & TRIBUNAL ADVOCACY
Georgina is regularly instructed as sole counsel in heavy duty multi week whistleblowing and discrimination and Equal pay trials, or complex employment status or jurisdictional disputes, where she acts for both Respondents and Claimants/Senior Executives. She often appears against significantly more senior counsel and has acted unled in trials up to 4 weeks in length. Examples of her current and recent work acting as sole counsel include:
- Successfully appearing unled in the Employment Tribunal in a 4-week disability, race and religious discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments, harassment and victimisation trial, acting for the Respondent, a National Charity [Equality Act claims – Disability, Religion and Race].
- Successfully appearing unled in the Employment Tribunal in a 7-day direct race discrimination and harassment trial, acting for the Respondent brokerage house operating in the financial services sector. The Claimant made a drop hands settlement following Georgina’s cross examination. The Tribunal went on to make specific findings that the Claimant had been not been truthful and awarded the Respondent’s costs. [Equality Act claims – Race].
- Instructed by the Claimant working in the private equity sector to appear in a 3-week pregnancy and maternity and disability trial (led by Daniel Tatton-Brown KC) [Equality Act claims – Pregnancy and Maternity and Disability and MAPLE] (ongoing).
- Instructed by the Respondent scientific research company to appear unled in a 3-week discrimination trial (unled) [Equality Act claims – Race] (ongoing).
- Instructed by the Claimant working in the Investment Banking sector in a pregnancy and maternity discrimination trial [ Equality Act Claims – Pregnancy and Maternity and MAPLE] (ongoing).
- Instructed by the Respondent Investment Bank to appear in a 5-day disability discrimination trial, settled prior to trial (unled) [Equality Act Claims – Disability].
- Instructed by the Claimant working in the Fintech sector in a trial concerning a 7-figure claim for commission payments following termination of his employment (unled)[Bonus & Unlawful Deductions] (ongoing).
- Instructed by the Respondent Asset Management Company in defending a claim for deferred compensation payments (unled) [Bonus & Unlawful Deductions] (ongoing).
- Successfully acting for the Claimant, a peripatetic worker operating in the security services and based in Afghanistan in seeking to establish Jurisdiction in the Employment Tribunal to bring a claim of unfair dismissal [Jurisdiction].
DRAFTING & ADVISORY
Georgina is regularly instructed to draft statements of case and grounds of appeal in all manner of statutory employment and discrimination disputes, as well as being instructed to advise on the merits of claims and appeals at a later stage. Examples of her current and recent work include being:
- Drafting a Defence in an acrimonious philosophical and religious belief case concerning gender critical beliefs [Religious & Philosophical Belief].
- Drafting Grounds of Complaint for a senior executive working in the private equity sector in an 8 figure pregnancy and maternity discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments, direct sex discrimination, direct disability discrimination, harassment related to disability and automatic and ordinary unfair dismissal claim (unled) [Equality Act – Pregnancy and Maternity and Disability and MAPLE claims].
- Drafting Grounds of Complaint for a senior executive working in the financial services sector in a 7-figure whistleblowing detriment claim (unled) [Whistleblowing]
- Drafting Grounds of Complaint for a senior executive working in the financial services sector in a 7-figure whistleblowing detriment, failure to make reasonable adjustments, direct disability discrimination and harassment related to disability claim (unled) [Whistleblowing, Equality Act claims – Disability].
- Drafting Grounds of Complaint for a senior executive working in the financial services sector in direct sex and race discrimination, harassment related to sex, race and disability, victimisation and s188 & 189 TULR(C)A 1992 claim[Equality Act Claims – Sex, Race and Disability, Collective Consultation].
- Drafting a complex Pregnancy and Maternity discrimination claim, for a senior executive working in the Private Equity sector (unled) [Equality Act Claims – Pregnancy and Maternity, and MAPLE].
- Drafting and acting in an 8-figure sex discrimination claim for a Senior Executive working in the financial services sector (led by Adam Solomon KC and Daniel Tatton-Brown KC) [Equality Act claims – Sex].
- Drafting a complex equal pay, pregnancy and maternity and sex discrimination claim, for a senior executive working for a well-known Investment Bank (unled) [Equality Act claims – Sex and Pregnancy and Maternity, Equal Pay and MAPLE].
- Advising an employee in a Fintech Company on a 7-figure claim for commission payments following termination of his employment (unled)[Bonus & Unlawful Deductions].
- Drafting a response to a claim for deferred compensation payments on behalf of an Asset Management Company (unled) [Bonus & Unlawful Deductions].
- Instructed to advise a Trade Union on the rights of its members during the COVID-19 crisis [Constructive Unfair Dismissal, Health & Safety Whistleblowing, Detriment, Unlawful Deductions, Interim Relief].
- Instructed to advise a Government Department on the entitlement of transgender men to pregnancy and maternity benefits [Human Rights Act 1998, EU retained law, SSCBA 1992].