Full Profile
Frances has specialised exclusively in Employment and Discrimination Law since qualifying as a lawyer in 2005. She became a partner in 2013.
Working with HR professionals, in-house lawyers, directors and managers from organisations of all sizes in the private, public and third sectors, as well as with individuals, Frances seeks practical solutions tailored to the client's situation, organisation and needs. She appears regularly in the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal. Unusually she has particular experience in managing mass, high value and complex employment litigation in Tribunals across the country.
Importantly Frances brings her own practical experience as a Board member and as a Chair of a Board to bear in advising clients. Recently she was selected as one of 50 international candidates to undertake an intensive 3 month programme at the Anderson Business School which was run in partnership between the University of California, Los Angeles and Banco Santander. This course was designed to identify and prepare the next generation of global women leaders for board directorship, focusing on strategy, negotiation, financial acumen and people management.
Frances is a member of the Equality & Diversity Sub-Committee of the Law Society of Scotland and won the Social Inclusion Initiative in Employment Law Award at the Scottish Diversity Awards 2019.
Experience
- assisting three local authorities with claims of sex discrimination, maternity discrimination, equal pay and unlawful deduction from wages from teachers regarding annual leave entitlement following maternity leave
- successfully defending a complex constructive unfair dismissal claim following 8 days of evidence on behalf of a private sector employer
- securing a high value settlement for an individual claiming equal pay where her employer ran material factor defences based on market forces, experience and geography.
- advising 19 local authorities on their defence of mass equal pay litigation
- assisting a public body with the defence of a claim of discrimination on grounds of religion or belief which was resolved on a non-financial basis
- advising a large employer on a complex issue affecting 900 employees regarding calculation of annual leave entitlement for part-time employees, and finding a cost-effective solution.
- representing a private sector employer in defending an unfair dismissal claim by its Managing Director and negotiating the withdrawal of the claim shortly before the hearing without a financial settlement.
- representing three large employers in respect of claims for holiday pay arising from recent decisions of the CJEU and the EAT regarding the need for holiday pay to reflect “normal remuneration"
- representing a public body in its defence of a claim for race discrimination based on events dating back 5 years.
