The Legal 500

Work Department

All aspects of employment law (collective and individual), discrimination and EU law and restraint of trade.

Position

Jenny Eady is one of the leading silks in the employment law field, with particular expertise in public sector equal pay litigation. In 2009, she was involved in the CA case of Wilson v HSE and she is leading counsel in the on-going government cross-agency equal pay case of Williams and Jermin v DVLA and also leads the legal team acting for central government in a number of test cases involving issues both of equal pay and age discrimination. Outside the equal pay field, Jenny has been instructed on a number of test cases relating to various forms of prohibited discrimination. She was instructed to act for the United Kingdom in the ECJ case of Centrum Voor Gelijkheid v Firma Feryn NV [2008] IRLR 732 and for the government in judicial review proceedings brought by the EHRC in respect of the UK’s implementation of anti-discrimination provisions relating to goods and services, R (EHRC) v SoS Equality. Jenny similarly remains a popular choice of lead counsel for both employers and employees in employment cases involving City institutions. She was recently instructed to act on behalf of the respondents in a high-profile Tribunal, multi-discrimination case of Sexton v Aberdeen Management and ors. Jenny also has enormous experience acting for and against NHS Trusts in discrimination cases (e.g. the whistle-blower case of Niekrash v South London Hospitals) and in the ET and EAT case of Eydatoulah v Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (race and disability discrimination) and the ET case of Guiloff v Chelsea and Westminster (age discrimination) and, more recently, in High Court injunction cases involving hospital consultants (e.g. Houshian v Lewisham Hospital for Capsticks). She is also counsel of choice for a leading collegiate University in recent internal disputes involving its professorial staff. Jenny’s expertise in redundancy cases (reflected in her early experience in cases such as R v British Coal, ex p Price [1994] IRLR 72) has been recognised as highly valuable in the current economic climate and she has been instructed to advise both employers and employees in recent large-scale redundancy exercises and was briefed by Thompsons as lead counsel for the trade unions in the collective redundancy case of GMB and Unite v Remploy, which was ultimately settled. Jenny is increasingly called upon to lead independent investigations and hearings, e.g. chairing a disciplinary panel for a professional regulatory body and has been instructed as the Appointed Person for a number of appeals under the Health and Safety at Work Act, including the recent high-profile appeal by Alpha Fireworks. She was also appointed to the ACAS Council and is a Trustee of the FRU. Significant work/case highlights over the past 12 months include: Williams and Jermin v DVLA and Dept for Transport; Health and Safety Executive v Wilson; Niekrash v South London Hospitals NHS Trust; and other confidential cases.

Career

Called 1989; called to the Northern Ireland Bar 1994; silk 2006; standing junior counsel to NUJ and NUM, appointed to the Treasury A Panel Counsel; part-time employment judge 2001-2008; recorder 2004-present; council member ACAS (2008-present). Publications: contributing editor to ‘Harvey on Employment Law and Industrial Relations’ (Butterworths); contributor to ‘Bullen, Leake & Jacobs Precedents of Pleadings’ (Sweet & Maxwell); co-author ‘Employment Tribunal Procedure’ (LAG); co-author ‘Employment Law Review’ (IER annually); co-author ‘Discrimination Law: Remedies and Quantum of Damages’ (Sweet and Maxwell 1998); contributor to ‘Discrimination in Employment (Sweet and Maxwell 2006).

Member

Industrial Law Society (hon vice president and former chair); Employment Law Bar Association (former hon secretary and founder member); trustee FRU; member of ELA; member of DLA.

Education

University of Oxford (1986 BA Hons PPE; 1988 Dip Law).

Practice Areas

Civil liberties and human rights; Employment; Litigation - commercial