Mr Ben Cooper KC > Chambers of Oliver Segal KC > London, England > Barrister Profile
Old Square Chambers Offices
Old Square Chambers
10-11 BEDFORD ROW
LONDON
WC1R 4BU
England
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Mr Ben Cooper KC
Work Department
Employment, environment, personal injury.
Position
Employment and discrimination, labour law and professional discipline, in particular disciplinary and industrial action injunctions, high court contractual claims, equal pay, complex discrimination, whistleblowing, TUPE. Recent cases of note: Brierley & others v Asda Stores Ltd (equal pay, ongoing); City of York Council v Grosset [2018] EWCA Civ 1105 (disability-related discrimination); McNeil & others v HMRC [2018] IRLR 398, EAT (equal pay, CA application pending); Argos Ltd v Unite the Union [2017] EWHC 1959 (QB) (strike injunction in TUPE context); Hartley & ors v King Edward VI College [2017] UKSC 39 (pay deductions for strike days); BALPA v Jet2.com [2017] ICR 475, CA (scope of statutory collective bargaining); Adeshina v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust & others [2017] EWCA Civ 257 (discrimination and unfair dismissal).
Career
Called to the Bar – November 2000. Silk 2017.
Memberships
Employment Law Bar Association; Industrial Law Society; Employment Lawyers’ Association.
Education
Born 1977. LLB (University of Birmingham, 1st class).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Employment
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Ben Cooper KC – Old Square Chambers ‘Ben is an exceptional advocate. He is a super bright technical lawyer.’
A ‘strong set for employment work with high profile counsel‘, Old Square Chambers‘ members routinely handle significant employment cases, including appearing in the Court of Appeal. In a prominent case highlight, Michael Ford KC successfully represented UNISON as intervenor in the Supreme Court in Harpur Trust v Brazel, a high-profile case concerning if part-year workers (in this context, a term-time only music teacher at a school) accrue their holiday entitlement pro rata throughout the year, or during the parts of the year the employee is working. In a separate matter, Ben Cooper KC is acting for ASDA in ongoing, large-scale litigation concerning multiple equal pay claims. At the junior end of chambers, whistleblowing and equal pay claims have been prominent in Melanie Tether‘s recent workload, and Robert Moretto successfully acted for the Department of Work and Pensions in Mackereth v DWP, a belief discrimination claim brought by a Christian doctor who refused to address transgender patients by their preferred pronouns. In March 2023, the senior end of the team was bolstered by the elevation of Eleena Misra KC and Nadia Motraghi KC to silk. Sarah Keogh is now a full-time Employment Judge.