Legal Illustrations and Examples

Settlement Agreement

We were approached by a new client to advise on the terms of a settlement agreement. Within 48 hours of his call, we spoke and arranged a meeting to take him through the proposed terms of his settlement agreement, explaining what they meant and their effect on him.

We spotted that there was potentially an issue with the way the agreement was worded and so sought to clarify this directly with our client’s employer, before proceeding to sign the agreement off. Following that, the settlement agreement was completed just under one week later.

Our client: “Many many thanks for all your assistance, help and advice. You have made everything so easy to deal with and it is greatly appreciated”

Unfair Dismissal

We were instructed to act for a client who was made redundant. They believed their selection for redundancy was pre-determined and the consultation process was meaningless. We assisted them in bringing their claim to the employment tribunal and drafted the pleadings setting out the summary of the case.

After the defence was lodged by their ex-employer, we attended a telephone hearing on our client’s behalf to discuss with the Employment Judge and the Respondent’s representative. In the end, we managed to avoid the tribunal hearing altogether because we negotiated a great settlement for our client, via ‘without prejudice’ discussions, during the course of preparation.

Constructive Dismissal

We acted for Molly Phillips after she resigned from employment and brought a claim for constructive unfair dismissal. Read the full case review by reading our blog post: An Employment Tribunal Success for Constructive Unfair Dismissal

Discrimination

There are different types of discrimination, but the first question the employment tribunal asks is whether you have a “protected characteristic”. The answer to that question is almost certainly yes! After all, the protected characteristic includes ‘age’ and ‘sex’.

The more significant question is whether the issues you are experiencing relate in some way to a protected characteristic. See our article which talks about a significant discrimination decision by the courts by clicking here.

Whistleblowing

People who have experienced retaliation for validly speaking out against their employer’s bad practice qualify for extra legal protections against detriment and dismissal. But whether or not someone has in law, ‘blown the whistle’ is not necessarily clear cut and always depends on the facts of the particular case.

See our helpful article which discusses some key decisions about whether a public interest protected disclosure was made, by clicking here.

Disclaimer: These are illustrative examples and should not be relied on as legal advice and Howells accepts no liability in this respect. If the subjects referred to above have affected you and you are looking for legal assistance, contact our employment law team today.

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