Employment
Nia regularly acts for Claimants and Respondents at the Employment Tribunal. She specialises in employment law including employment status, discrimination and Equality Act claims, unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, wrongful dismissal, restrictive covenants and pay related claims. Nia values the importance of conducting client conferences prior to the hearing in order to prepare the lay client for the realities of a preliminary and or final hearing. She always keeps an open line of communication with her instructing solicitors to discuss case strategy and any other matters which may arise.
Employment Cases
- Instructed to represent a Claimant in a 10-day final hearing which encompassed a range of Equality Act claims against a prominent university. This claim was pleaded beyond £140,000. It encompassed direct discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, failure to make reasonable adjustments, victimisation and harassment. On the day before the hearing, successful negotiations were concluded which provided the Claimant with a sizeable settlement commensurate with the evaluation of the Claimant’s case.
- Represented the Claimant in a preliminary hearing in a harassment and victimisation claim against one of the world’s leading car manufacturers.
- Represented the Claimant in an unfair and wrongful dismissal case. When Nia received the papers and assessed the factual matrix, she identified that the Claimant had a better chance of succeeding in a wrongful dismissal case. This was not pleaded as the Claimant was initially a litigant in person when the ET1 was produced. Through Nia’s use of her skeleton argument, her knowledge of relevant case law and her persuasive advocacy skills, Nia successfully amended the ET1 on the day of the final hearing to include wrongful dismissal.
- Represented the Respondent in a 4-day final hearing which encompassed claims for holiday pay, breach of contract and constructive dismissal. While the Claimant was successful in their claim for constructive dismissal, the Tribunal considered it just and equitable to reduce her award by 30% because it was found that she would have resigned in any event.
- Prepared a Court-ordered position statement on behalf of the Second Respondent on employment status and jurisdiction in a complex matter. In this case the First and Third Respondent entered into an agreement for the provision of consultancy, outsourced services and various Work Orders. The Claimant alleged that he was employed by the First and Third Respondents. This was disputed by both Respondents.
