Elizabeth Hodgetts

Introduction

Elizabeth Hodgetts is  ranked as a Leading Junior in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 legal directories.  Described as “an outstanding practitioner” with “a razor-sharp mind”,  “formidable” cross-examination skills, and “outstanding” knowledge of employment law, Elizabeth is a highly sought-after advocate, particularly for high value and complex Employment Tribunal cases.

Elizabeth has a considerable public sector respondent practice, including on behalf of Government departments & agencies as a member of the Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel (“A” panel), and on behalf of local authorities, NHS Trusts, and educational institutions. She also undertakes work for private sector respondents, and welcomes instructions from claimants.

Elizabeth has extensive experience of advising and representing in:

Discrimination claims, citing the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation.

Her cases include:

• advising and representing the Secretary of State defending a claim for disability discrimination, arising out of the Chief Constable’s refusal to pay an enhanced injury benefit to a police officer
• advising and representing a claimant claiming sex discrimination and disability discrimination, relating to a 4 year period in a construction sector company
• advising and representing a claimant claiming sexual orientation discrimination, relating to a sequence of events following her same-sex marriage
• advising and representing a local authority defending complaints of race discrimination, victimisation and constructive unfair dismissal, arising out of both the claimant’s allegations of bullying, and disciplinary proceedings instituted against him following allegations that he had made homophobic comments
• advising and representing a respondent company in a 3 week hearing defending complaints of race discrimination, victimisation and constructive unfair dismissal, arising out of the claimant’s failures to secure promotion over a 5 year period
• advising and representing the Secretary of State defending a claim for age and sexual orientation discrimination arising out of the refusal to pay a survivor’s pension to the same-sex partner of a former local authority employee
• advising and representing a local authority in a 4 week hearing defending complaints of direct race discrimination, victimisation and unfair dismissal, brought by an individual who had previously successfully claimed race discrimination and victimisation against the same employer and who claimed that his subsequent dismissal, some years later, was part of the same sequence of events
• advising and representing a university in a 6 week hearing defending complaints of direct disability, race, and sex discrimination, harassment, and victimisation, and unfair dismissal, arising from the response of the university to the conduct of an individual with a significant mental health condition
• advising and representing a claimant in her claim for sex discrimination and discrimination on the grounds of adoption leave, arising out of her dismissal for alleged misconduct

Equal Pay and Job Evaluation claims

Her cases include:

• advising and representing a government department defending a High Court group action for breach of contract arising out of a job evaluation exercise
• advising and representing a respondent company defending a claim for equal pay, sex discrimination and unfair dismissal
• advising and representing a government agency defending a claim for equal pay
• advising and representing a local authority defending individual County Court claims for breach of contract arising out of a job evaluation exercise

National Minimum Wage claims; including in relation to the category of worker, the basic hours of work, and the hours deemed to be worked

Protected disclosure (“whistleblowing”) claims, relying on detriments and/or dismissal including constructive dismissal.

Her cases include:

• advising and representing a local authority defending a claim for detriments on the ground of PDs, in which the claimant asserted more than 30 PDs and 14 (ongoing) detriments, and disability discrimination
• advising and representing a local authority in a 3 week hearing defending complaints of detriments on the ground of PDs as well as complaints of direct discrimination and harassment citing age, disability and sex, and victimisation
• advising and representing a claimant claiming detriments on the ground of PDs, resulting in a significant 6 figure settlement and agreed termination of employment

Trade Unions and Industrial Relations

Her cases include:

• advising and representing a local authority and maintained school in a High Court claim for injunctive relief in relation to proposed strike action
• advising and representing 145 claimants claiming a protective award arising out of a collective consultation in June 2020. Issues included establishment; whether elections should have been held; and whether the consultation was meaningful
• advising and representing in an appeal relating to a trade union detriment claim
• acting as junior Counsel in a case on behalf of a local authority defending protective award and unfair dismissal claims pursued by 4 trade unions on behalf of some 1000 employees following dismissal and re-engagement on new terms and conditions

TUPE transfers and consequent disputes including in relation to the existence of a relevant transfer, assignment, changes to terms and conditions, and dismissals

Her appeal cases include:

Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary, Secretary of State for Home Department v Clark & Bell, EAT: appeal against ET’s conclusion that it had jurisdiction to hear a claim for disability discrimination arising out of the refusal to pay an injury benefit

Nissa v Waverly Education Foundation Ltd, EAT: respondent to appeal against ET’s conclusion that C was not disabled

Birmingham City Council v Lawrence, EAT: appeal against ET’s conclusions that dismissal was unfair and constituted s. 15 discrimination and a failure to make reasonable adjustments

Birmingham City Council v Wetherill & ors, CA: respondent to appeal against finding in County Court that the Council had breached employees’ contracts of employment, when it removed the upper bands of a car user allowance scheme: on a true analysis of the contractual position, the Council was entitled to decide, unilaterally, to change the existing practice in the operation of the car use allowance scheme; but was not entitled to give effect to that decision by implementing the change without transitional provisions which would protect the existing rights of relevant employees

Newage Transmission Ltd v Transport & General Workers Union and others, EAT: respondent to appeal against 80-day protective award: the amendment to s. 189(4) TULRCA 1992 was not ultra vires; and the award was not disproportionate