Sector Focus
Legal
It’s touchdown in Brum: Sam Smith (left) with Thursfields’ Tim Edwards
Winning compensation is one thing, enforcing payment is another!
By Samantha Glynn Solicitor, Sydney Mitchell LLP
Winning compensation is one thing, but enforcing its payment is another. That point could hardly have been more powerfully made than by a case in which a domestic servant who was awarded almost £270,000 by an Employment Tribunal (ET) ended up without a penny. In what was believed to be
the first successful ‘caste discrimination’ case brought before an ET, the Indian woman successfully complained that the couple for whom she worked had paid her far below the National Minimum Wage. The ET also found that she had been unfairly dismissed and discriminated against on grounds of her religion and race. She was awarded total compensation of £266,536. A firm of solicitors
commendably agreed to act free of charge in pursuing the couple for payment of the award. However, they ultimately only succeeded in recovering £35,702, roughly 13 per cent of the amount due. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) had funded the woman’s case and elected to exercise its statutory charge over the sum recovered. The end result was that the woman received nothing. In ruling on the woman’s
judicial review challenge to the LAA’s decision, the High Court acknowledged that her position was extremely unfortunate. The findings of the ET were wholly consistent with her claim that she was a victim of trafficking and had been held in servitude by the couple. In dismissing her case, however, the Court rejected arguments that the application of the statutory charge breached her human rights or European rules designed to combat human trafficking.
For help and advice on employment law matters, contact Samantha Glynn on 0808 166 8870
s.glynn@
sydneymitchell.co.uk
Sydney Mitchell LLP is a Top Tier Legal 500 firm with offices in Birmingham, Sheldon, Shirley and facilities in Sutton Coldfield.
58 CHAMBERLINK March 2018
Former Warrior expands coffee shop into city
A former professional rugby player is expanding his Worcester-based speciality coffee shop into Birmingham. Sam Smith, the ex-Worcester
Warriors and England under-20s winger, launched Wayland’s Yard in Foregate Street, Worcester in 2016 after an injury forced his early retirement from rugby. Midlands law firm Thursfields
Solicitors has now helped him with the acquisition and lease of premises in Bull Street, Birmingham
city centre where the second Wayland’s Yard is due to open in March. Mr Smith said: “Having to stop
playing rugby was devastating as I hoped to play for another nine or 10 years, but I’m really pleased with how Wayland’s has progressed this year.
“My dream was to create a venue
that champions speciality coffee, supports local suppliers and serves up great food in a unique and exciting space.
“We’ve become established in
Worcester since opening in October 2016 and we saw a real opportunity to continue to share our passion for proper coffee and food by launching into the busy city centre of Birmingham.” Katie Williams of Thursfields
said: “Wayland’s Yard has quickly become a popular and well-known coffee shop in Worcester, and it’s been a pleasure for the team to help Sam find a great venue for his second branch in Birmingham.”
Careless comments cost money
A specialist information and communications technology lawyer has issued a stark warning about the dangers of posting on social media after a woman was left with a fine of thousands of pounds for comments made on Facebook. The warning comes after the failed appeal of Nicola
Stoker, aged 50 from Dorset, who made comments on Facebook that her ex-husband Ronald Stoker had tried to kill her. Mrs Stoker lost a libel case over this in 2016 and has now lost a subsequent appeal, resulting in a legal bill of about £300,000. Susan Hall, head of technology at Clarke Willmott,
said people were far too casual when it came to posting comments on online forums. She said: “People don’t realise how risky it is to
make throwaway comments on social media sites. It’s easy to get carried away when you’re sitting in the comfort of your own home or behind your phone screen but there are serious repercussions when baseless allegations are made. “And this doesn’t only apply to Facebook, the same can be said for any social media platforms. There are
a frightening number of criminal and civil wrongs which can be committed in 280 characters or less. “Making public comments online is not the same as
having a chat at the pub and your comments may well get broadcast to a much wider audience that you initially expected. It is how it might be read by others that matters most to the courts.” Chris Longbottom, a partner in family law at Clarke
Willmott, said he was seeing increasing cases arising from social media when dealing with the breakdown in relationships. Chris said: “When separations and divorces get
nasty, emotions run high and the stress of the proceedings can make people act out and take their grievances online. “What most people don’t realise is that when this
happens and when comments turn libellous, they will also have a civil or even criminal suit on their hands. “Online abuse and negativity is something we
haven’t really had to deal with before but it is becoming more and more of an issue and one where the law is becoming stricter.”
Sponsored by: Sydney Mitchell LLP
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