Charlotte is one of two senior supervisors in Thompsons Solicitors’ employment rights team, based in London and covering the city and the East and South West of England.
An extremely experienced and successful employment rights solicitor, Charlotte has specialised in the field since qualifying in 2000 and has run a number of significant cases for trade union members at employment tribunals, some up to the Court of Appeal. Charlotte was a volunteer employment law adviser at the Mary Ward Legal Centre between 2003 and 2005, dealing with a variety of different employment claims.
Charlotte regularly handles all employment law disciplines, including discrimination claims, Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) and variation to contracts, many of which are multi-claimant.
Appointed senior supervisor in 2016, Charlotte has taken on responsibility for supervising a team of six lawyers. Charlotte allocates cases and monitors progress, the use of suppliers and financial spend, ensuring that they are completed efficiently and effectively in the best interests of trade union clients.
Charlotte is constantly looking at ways to further improve how her team handles cases to deliver the best possible outcome for trade unions and their members, in line with Thompsons’ ethos, vision and values.
Charlotte is often called upon to give talks and lectures on employment law, both at Thompsons and trade union-organised events. She writes articles and commentary on employment and trade union rights for Thompsons’ publications, including Labour and European Law Review as well as external publications such as NAPO News.
Working at Thompsons gives Charlotte many opportunities in her chosen field, including the satisfaction of ensuring that employment rights are upheld and enforced on behalf of trade unions and their members.
In her spare time, Charlotte volunteers to walk dogs for the RSPCA.
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Charlotte's case experience
- In the case Toal & Hughes v GB Oils, Charlotte won the right to be accompanied by a representative of your choice, regardless of the employer’s view of the representative.
- Represented Ms Bowater, a nurse, who was dismissed following an incident in which she tried to restrain a patient and then made a lewd comment about him. The Court of Appeal ruled that Ms Bowater had been unfairly dismissed, saying that although the comment had been inappropriate, it had not been made in public and the patient had not been aware of it, nor had the doctor or charge nurse reported her behaviour.
- Mandy Garrett was employed by Lidl Limited and alleged disability discrimination. Charlotte took her case to the Employment Appeal Tribunal which held that, when considering harassment, it is important to consider the effect on the alleged victim, irrespective of the motive.Â
- In Jenkins v Heathrow Express Operating Company [2007], a decision by the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the tribunal was not entitled to make its own independent assessment of the medical evidence, and that it had substituted its own view as to the fitness of the employee for that of the employer. Read the full story.
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Professional membership
Charlotte is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association.
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