Employment
This is a well established and expanding area of practice at Fountain Court.
A number of members specialise in this area, conducting employment work in conjunction with their commercial practices; such overlap is manifested in extensive experience of handling High Court litigation involving such issues as: bonus disputes (including the leading case of Cantor Fitzgerald v Horkulak), restrictive covenants, garden leave, staff "poaching" and wrongful dismissal (e.g. Dehalli v Lehman Brothers).
Members regularly advise and act in claims concerning statutory rights and particularly whistleblowing, TUPE and discrimination on grounds of race, sex (including equal pay), disability, sexual orientation, religious belief and age. Notable cases include: Jones v DCA, Ainsworth v HMRC, Villalba v Merrill Lynch, Anya v University of Oxford, Glasgow City Council v Marshall, SES Contracting v UK Coal and Grant v South West Trains.
Members of Chambers are also frequently involved in cases involving collective disputes, in particular injunction applications concerning industrial action. Recent examples include advising and representing the Post Office, South West Trains, Virgin, the NHS, ATOC (the Association of Train Operating Companies), Network Rail, the British Transport Police, Aviance and Scottish & Newcastle plc.
Notable cases include: Connex South Eastern v RMT, West Coast Trains v RMT, Royal Mail v CWU and Network Rail v RMT.
More generally, members' expertise is also recognised in numerous appointments to the Treasury's A, B and C panels.