For details of Georgina’s High Court Bonus, Employee Competition and Business Protection Practice, please see the separate tab.
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 40 employment & discrimination trials up to 4 weeks in length, on five 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.
- In her statutory practice, Georgina has a growing expertise acting for FCA/PRA regulated clients working in the financial services, investment banking, private equity, asset management and brokerage sectors having represented both Senior Executives and Respondents in claims brought against Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse, Visa, Man Group, Santander, Tradition, Advent International, Investcorp International, JP Morgan, ICG, Rothschild, Citigroup, Quilter, EFG Private Bank, Esmo Asset Management and HSBC.
- Within whistleblowing law, she has acted for a number of FCA/PRA regulated clients, and acts in cases where there have been allegations of breach conduct rules alongside more recently environmental whistleblowing cases involving greenwashing in breach of the FCA’s consumer duty. 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, strike out of Whistleblowing claims with Daniel Tatton-Brown KC, and Attribution in whistleblowing Dismissal and Detriment claims with Jeremy Lewis 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 cases. She has spoken on pregnancy and maternity discrimination for ELA.
- 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 is familiar acting for clients with complex remuneration structures including carried interest, deferred compensation, shareholding and equity stakes. She recently spoke on Bonus Disputes at the Littleton Annual Employment Day.
- Within trade union and collective labour law disputes she is instructed in a number of trade union detriment claims and accepts instructions in trade union recognition claims and as junior counsel in strike action litigation. She recently spoke on trade union recognition and strike action claims with David Reade KC.
- She recently co-authored an article with David Reade KC on the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Mercer for Lexis Nexis.
- Within jurisdiction disputes she has assisted a number of peripatetic and expatriate employees in successfully establishing jurisdiction in the employment tribunal.
She is increasingly instructed for clients working in the financial services, private equity, asset management, fintech, insurance, professional services and energy sectors, but has also represented clients in the media, tech, healthcare, higher education, charity, recruitment, sports 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 extensive 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:
- Instructed as junior counsel in an EAT appeal in relation to the approach to Polkey assessment to be heard in early 2025 (led by David Reade KC) [Unfair Dismissal – Reason for Dismissal, Polkey].
- Instructed as junior counsel in an EAT appeal to draft written submissions in relation to an appeal concerning rule 50 applications (led by Lydia Banerjee) [Rule 50 anonymity orders].
- South Gloucestershire Council v Hundal [2024] EAT 140 Georgina appeared for the successful Respondent in upholding the ET’s findings regarding the s15EqA 2010 claim. The Judgment provides important clarity on the interaction between reasonable adjustments claims and objective justification in discrimination arising from disability claims [Equality Act claims – Disability].
- Successfully representing the Respondent in resisting an application to extend time to lodge an appeal (unled, ongoing) [EAT Procedure].
- Successfully obtaining permission to appeal to the EAT in a case concerning the meaning of “related to” under s18 of the Equality Act (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:
- Instructed by the Claimant working in the private equity sector to appear in a 3-week pregnancy and maternity and disability trial (settled prior to trial, led by Daniel Tatton-Brown KC) [Equality Act claims – Pregnancy and Maternity and Disability and MAPLE].
- 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 Respondent Investment Bank to appear in a 5-day disability discrimination trial, settled prior to trial (unled) [Equality Act Claims – Disability].
- Instructed by the Respondent Bank in a 4-day disability discrimination case where the Claimant is seeking re-engagement and/or reinstatement [Equality Act Claims – Disability, Reinstatement, Re-engagement].
- Instructed by the Respondent Asset Management Company in defending a claim for deferred compensation payments (unled, settled at JM prior to trial) [Bonus & Unlawful Deductions]
- 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, ongoing) [Bonus & Unlawful Deductions].
- Acting in a 4-week case on joint employment in the context of Equality Act and MAPLE 1999 claims (unled, ongoing) [MAPLE, Equality Act claims].
- Acting in a 2-week complex disability discrimination case for an Analyst working for a well known Investment Bank (unled, ongoing) [Equality Act claims – Disability].
- Drafting and Acting in a complex 2-week disability discrimination and failure to make reasonable adjustments claim for a Senior Executive working in the financial services involving amongst other consideration on the effect on their bonus and equity stake (unled) [Disability, Bonus].
- Successfully acting in a complex and high value 7-day automatic unfair dismissal, whistleblowing detriment and unlawful deductions case for the Claimant, a senior in house counsel (unled) [Whistleblowing, unlawful deductions].
- 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:
- Acting for an Investment Banker in a whistleblowing, disability discrimination and unlawful deduction from wages claim in the Employment Tribunal led by Jeremy Lewis KC [Whistleblowing, Equality Act claims – Disability].
- Acting for an Equity Partner at a Law Firm in a claims under the Equality Act subsequent to decisions to remove the Claimant from equity partnership at the LLP and trigger involuntary retirement from the LLP (led by Jeremy Callman) [LLPs, Equality Act claims].
- Acting for a UK and US LLP in defending a claim brought by a former equity partner at a Law firm for sex discrimination, harassment related to sex, victimisation and equal pay (unled) [LLPs, Equality Act claims – Disability].
- Acting for a Private Equity Company in defending a claim for disability discrimination (unled) [Equality Act claims – Victimisation].
- Drafting a response to a claim for trade union detriment, victimisation, and whistleblowing detriment for a West End Theatre Production Company [Trade Union Detriment, Whistleblowing, Equality Act claims – Disability].
- 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 and acting in an 8-figure sex and age discrimination and victimisation claim for a Senior Executive working in the investment banking sector (settled prior to trial) (led by Adam Solomon KC and Daniel Tatton-Brown KC) [Equality Act claims – Sex and Age].
- Drafting and acting in a philosophical belief discrimination and harassment case subsequent to the removal of a Director from a Company following a series of Tweets (led by David Reade KC) [Equality Act claims – Philosophical Belief, Human Rights Act].
- Drafting a Defence in an acrimonious philosophical and religious belief case concerning gender critical beliefs (unled) [Religious & Philosophical Belief].
- 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 and Acting in a complex 2-week disability discrimination and failure to make reasonable adjustments claim for a Senior Executive working in the financial services involving amongst other consideration on the effect on their bonus and equity stake (unled) [Disability, Bonus].
- Drafting a complex equal pay, pregnancy and maternity and sex discrimination claim, for a Senior Executive working for a well-known Investment Bank (unled, settled prior to trial) [Equality Act claims and MAPLE – Sex, Pregnancy and Maternity and Equal Pay].
- 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].
- Acting for an Associate Director working for a well-known Investment Bank in a complex equal pay, pregnancy and maternity and sex discrimination claim (unled, ongoing) [Equality Act claims and MAPLE – Sex, Pregnancy and Maternity and Equal Pay].
- Drafting a complex Pregnancy, Maternity and sex discrimination, harassment and victimisation claim for the Head of Marketing working for a leading global fashion brand unled, settled prior to trial) [Equality Act claims Pregnancy and Maternity 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].
- Drafting and acting for an investment fund in an employment status, sex and sexual harassment, sex discrimination, victimisation and whistleblowing claim [Equality Act claims – Sex and Sexual Harassment, Victimisation and Whistleblowing, Employment Status].
- 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].