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Katharine Newton QC

Year of call 1999 Silk 2020

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"An exceptionally able junior; she is sensible, bright and fantastic with clients and tribunals."

Chambers & Partners

"She has a charm that goes down very well with tribunals," and is "generally perceived to be a class act"

Chambers & Partners

"a real fighter who will always give 100%." Sources agree she is "determined, charismatic, and great fun to work with." Newton is "an excellent all-round junior"

Chambers & Partners

(Practice Areas

Employment & Discrimination
Professional Regulatory & Discipline

CClerk

Graham Smith
020 7269 0357 Email Graham

bProfile
Cases

Katharine is an experienced and highly regarded practitioner who appears regularly in the employment tribunal, High Court and the appellate courts including the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Katharine was the Chambers & Partners Employment Junior of the Year 2018, and the only junior barrister to appear in The Lawyer Hot 100 2018. Katharine is regularly instructed in high profile, high value and complex employment and discrimination claims across a wide range of sectors and her practice over recent years has included some of the most high-profile cases litigated at the Employment Law Bar.

Katharine is listed as a leading junior in both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 where she is praised for her advocacy skills and is described as “an exceptionally able junior; she is sensible, bright and fantastic with clients”, “in huge demand due to her impressive reputation for being tough in the tribunal courts and excellent with clients”, “a real fighter who will always give 100%, she is determined, charismatic and great fun to work with”, “she has a charm that goes down very well in tribunals and is generally perceived to be a class act”, “hard-working and always prepared to go the extra mile for her clients”, “clever, practical and diligent with a lively charm”.

Katharine acts for both employers and employees in every area of employment law including discrimination of all types, whistleblowing, victimisation, unfair and wrongful dismissal, TUPE, breach of contract, restrictive covenants, wages and trade union industrial disputes. She acts for a broad range of clients covering the whole spectrum, from large corporate clients, banking and financial institutions, media organisations, royalty, NHS employers, trade unions and local authorities to the full range of Claimants including both individual Claimants and cases involving multi-Claimant test cases. Katharine also has experience in advising on discrimination claims in the ‘goods and services’ sphere. Full details of Katharine’s experience can be found in the ‘Employment and Discrimination’ section of her profile.

Katharine also has extensive experience in conducting both disciplinary and grievance investigations, as well as undertaking department and employer-wide reviews of practice and procedure. Katharine’s investigatory reports have been repeatedly praised by Judges in subsequent employment tribunal proceedings. Katharine also has experience of advising and presenting cases at internal disciplinary, grievance and appeal hearings. Full details of Katharine’s experience can be found in the ‘HR Professional Support’ section of her profile.

Katharine has considerable experience of professional disciplinary cases before various regulatory bodies including hearings before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the General Teaching Council (GTC). Full details of Katharine’s experience can be found in the ‘Professional Regulatory & Discipline’ section of her profile.

Katharine regularly appears as an advocate in mediations of all types where she has acted for various parties in a wide range of disputes including discrimination, whistleblowing and High Court contractual claims.

Employment & Discrimination

Employment & Discrimination:

Katharine is recognised by both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 as a leading junior in employment law and was the Chambers & Partners Employment Junior of the Year in 2018. Katharine is regularly instructed in high profile, high value and complex discrimination and whistleblowing claims, including many lasting in excess of 20 days. In a number of cases the other side have withdrawn their claims and/or conceded their case after Katharine has cross-examined their witnesses. In addition, Katharine has a busy appellate practice and appears in the EAT, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court on employment law matters, particularly those involving important points of legal principle affecting large sections of the UK workforce such as the Deliveroo ‘gig economy’ test case on employment status.

Katharine’s experience encompasses a wide range of sectors, but she has particular expertise in acting for:

Banking and Financial Institutions where instructions have included acting on behalf of major investment banks such as Citigroup, JP Morgan, RBS, Barclays Bank Plc, Credit Suisse, UBS, HBOS and Ahli United Bank.
Law Firms accused of discrimination;
Media organisations including Telegraph Publishing Ltd, Guardian Newspapers, Associated Newspapers and Evening Standard Ltd.
Museums including the V&A Museum, Science Museum, Museum of London, Museum in Docklands, and The National Gallery;
NHS Trusts where Katharine has successfully defended numerous NHS Trusts in relation to various lengthy discrimination and whistleblowing claims brought by both current and former employees in all courts including the Court of Appeal;
Airlines including British Airways Plc, Qantas, and American Airlines;
Schools and Universities including many well-known public schools and Russell Group Universities;
Unions where Katharine is regularly instructed by various unions on important matters. She successfully acted for the teaching union NASUWT in the Supreme Court; was instructed to advise the BMA during the high-profile Junior Doctors’ Strike; acted for Unite the Union in the leading case of Unite v Nailard in the Court of Appeal and is currently acting on behalf of the IWGB union in the Deliveroo employment status appeal.
High Profile individuals including royalty, celebrities and peers as well as Claimants holding both senior and junior roles.

Some examples of Katharine’s recent work are as follows:

Discrimination and Whistleblowing

Sati v Citibank NA. Katharine successfully defended Citibank in a claim brought by a former employee for whistleblowing, race and religious discrimination on grounds of his Muslim faith, and unfair dismissal.
Guglani v Citibank International Ltd. Katharine successfully defended Citibank in a complex case of sex discrimination arising out of the dismissal of a Relationship Manager in the bank’s wealth management department.
Katharine acted for the individual named Respondent in the widely reported sexual harassment case of Weston v Merrill Lynch & Ors.
Eweida v British Airways Plc. Katharine is acting on behalf of British Airways in this high-profile claim of religious discrimination and victimisation brought by an employee who had previously sued BA alleging its uniform policy did not allow her to display her Christian cross.
Unite the Union v Nailard [2019] ICR 28. Katharine acted with Oliver Segal QC in this leading Court of Appeal case on the legal tests for (a) sexual harassment under the Equality Act 2010 and (b) the liability of employers for the discriminatory acts of third parties.
A v Barclays Bank Plc. Katharine successfully acted for Barclays Bank Plc in a disability discrimination claim involving the interplay between disability discrimination and requests for early retirement.
Crompton v Telegraph Publishing Ltd. Katharine acted on behalf of the Telegraph in a claim of direct and indirect age discrimination brought by the Assistant Arts Editor at the Telegraph. She was challenging the contractual redundancy scheme as being discriminatory on grounds of age. The claim settled shortly before trial.
Bodi v Guardian Media Group. Katharine acted for the Guardian in a claim for religious discrimination arising out of the Guardian’s decision to block an individual from commenting in its forums. The claim was ultimately withdrawn.
Coleman v Telegraph Publishing Ltd. Katharine acted on behalf of the Telegraph in this claim of sex and age discrimination brought by its Legal Editor.
Cook v United Utilities Plc. Katharine successfully defended the Respondent in this complex and long running whistleblowing, disability discrimination and unfair dismissal claim.
Rendall v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. Katharine successfully acted on behalf of the Claimant counter-terrorism officer in his claims for disability discrimination against the Met Police. The Claimant had suffered PTSD as a result of his experiences as a soldier in Northern Ireland.
Jay v Chief Constable of Essex Police. Katharine acted for the Claimant Police Sergeant in her claim for indirect sex discrimination. The claim settled after Katharine had cross-examined the Respondent’s key witnesses.
Mullarkey v Magrath LLP & Or. Katharine acted for the Claimant in this complex claim of disability discrimination brought by a lawyer against Magrath LLP solicitors.
Fidler v Allianz Cornhill Engineering. Katharine successfully represented the Respondent at the ET and EAT in a 20 day claim for disability discrimination and constructive dismissal brought by a dyslexic employee. Katharine also obtained an indemnity costs order worth in excess of £100,000 against the Claimant at the conclusion of the trial.
Mirikwe v Wilson & Co Solicitors & Ors. Katharine successfully defended the Respondent law firm and three named partners in this complex case of direct race discrimination brought by one of its trainee solicitors. Katharine also obtained an indemnity costs order against the Claimant at the conclusion of the trial.

Industrial Action and Collective Issues

Hartley & Ors v King Edward VI College [2017] ICR 774. Katharine successfully appeared, with Oliver Segal QC, instructed on behalf of NASUWT, in the Supreme Court test case concerning the correct deduction from pay for participation in strike action.
Deliveroo test case [2019] IRLR 249. Katharine is appearing with John Hendy QC in the Court of Appeal in this important test case on the Article 11 rights of Deliveroo riders.
Foster Carers test case [2019] IRLR 860. Katharine is appearing with John Hendy QC, on behalf of the IWGB union who are intervening in this test case on the Article 11 rights of foster carers.
Re BMA Junior Doctors’ Strike. Katharine advised the BMA on pay and contractual issues arising out of the high-profile strike action taken by junior doctors in response to the imposition of the new contract by the Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt.
(1) Taylor (2) Unite the Union v Birmingham City Council [2017] EWHC 2576. Katharine, with Oliver Segal QC, obtained an urgent High Court injunction to stop more than 100 refuse workers being made redundant in a case arising out of the long running bin strike in Birmingham.
Re Govia strike. Katharine is currently advising the RMT in relation to deductions from pay made by Govia as a result of strike action undertaken by conductors.
Re Prison Officers’ Association (POA). Katharine was junior Counsel, led by John Hendy QC, on behalf of the POA in successfully defeating a contempt of court application brought against the union by the Home Office.
Katharine has also obtained interim relief in several cases on behalf of trade union activists.

Equal Pay

Browne, Stanton & Ors v Associated Newspapers. Katharine acted on behalf of Associated Newspapers in respect of equal pay claims brought by a number of ‘casual’ journalists who worked at the Mail on Sunday.
Weeds v University of Essex. Katharine acted for the University of Essex in this claim for equal pay arising out of market supplement payments made to lecturers at the University.
NHS Equal Pay litigation. Katharine acted on behalf of various NHS Trusts in the long running equal pay litigation which arose as a result of the Agenda for Change banding exercise.
Katharine has also been instructed in numerous ‘individual’ equal pay claims across the full range of sectors.

TUPE

Duff & Taylor v (1) Endeavour Insurance Services Ltd (2) CGNMB Katharine successfully acted for Endeavour Insurance Services in the first ever claim to test whether the TUPE service provision change provisions apply to binding authority brokerage business in the context of the Lloyds insurance brokerage market.
Hill & Ors v Evening Standard Ltd & Ors. Katharine acted on behalf of the Evening Standard in a TUPE claim brought by over 100 newspaper sellers arising out of the decision to make the Evening Standard a free newspaper.
Skittrall & Ors v (1) University College London (2) Camden PCT and (3) University of East London. Katharine acted for Camden PCT in both the ET and EAT in this complex TUPE claim which arose out of the decision to transfer a BSc Hons degree in podiatry from UCL to UEL.
GMB v Southern Cross. Katharine acted for the GMB on behalf of thousands of workers affected by the collapse of the Southern Cross care homes and the transfers which subsequently took place.

Contractual Claims (including employee competition and employee status)

Deliveroo test case on worker status [2019] IRLR 249. Katharine is appearing with John Hendy QC in the Court of Appeal in this high-profile test case on the employment status and rights of delivery riders.
Hartley & Ors v King Edward VI College [2017] ICR 774. Katharine, led by Oliver Segal QC, was successful in this Supreme Court test case concerning the correct deduction from pay for participation in strike action.
Foster Carers test case [2019] IRLR 860. Katharine is appearing with John Hendy QC, on behalf of the IWGB union, who are intervening in this test case on the Article 11 rights of foster carers.
Baker & Ors v The Post Office. Katharine is currently acting on behalf of 120 Postmasters in this test case against the Post Office to determine whether they are workers. The outcome of the case will affect more the 7,000 Postmasters across Britain.
Aforworki-Gabriel v (1) Citibank (2) Hudson York Farrell. Katharine successfully represented Citibank, the end user, in defeating a post-Dacas implied contract agency worker claim.
Hashemi v University College Hospitals Trust. Katharine acted for UCLH in this High Court breach of contract claim brought by a Consultant. The claim ultimately settled.
Nexus v Anderson & Ors [2018] EWCA Civ 2084. Katharine, led by John Hendy QC, successfully acted on behalf of the Claimants in this Court of Appeal test case on the jurisdiction of ETs to construe contracts of employment in determining unauthorised deduction from wages claims. The case also involved the construction of a collective agreement.
Atchoe v Camden PCT. Katharine successfully acted on behalf of Camden PCT in the ET, EAT and Court of Appeal in this case concerning the applicability of the wages provisions of the ERA and the question of whether or not overtime is a contractual right.
Ekeocha & Ors v Dartford & Gravesend NHS Trust. Katharine acted on behalf of the NHS Trust in this test case regarding junior doctors’ pay banding.
Katharine is regularly instructed to advise and represent both Claimants and Defendants in injunctive proceedings covering the full range of employee competition issues including restrictive covenants, team moves, confidential information and garden leave as well as industrial action injunctions.

Selection of reported cases

Deliveroo ‘gig economy’ worker status test case [2019] IRLR 249
Foster Carers worker status test case [2019] IRLR 860, EAT
Unite the Union v Nailard [2019] ICR 28, CA
Nexus v Anderson & Ors [2018] EWCA Civ 2084, CA
Hartley & Ors v King Edward VI College [2017] ICR 774, Supreme Court
(1) Taylor (2) Unite the Union v Birmingham City Council [2017] EWHC 2576, QB
Mirikwe v Wilson & Co Solicitors [2011] UKEAT/0025/11
UPS Ltd v Sammakia [2009] UKEAT/01999/09
Hay v Ministry of Defence [2008] IRLR 928
Bidwell v Havering Primary Care Trust [2008] All ER (D) 297
TGWU v Brauer Coley [2007] IRLR 207
Atchoe v Camden Primary Care Trust [2007] All ER (D) 145
Patel v Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust [2007] All ER (D) 263
Baynton v South West Trains [2005] ICR 1730
Allianz Cornhill Engineering v Fidler [2005] All ER (D) 177
Skittrall & Ors v (1) UCL (2) Camden PCT (3) UEL [2005] All ER (D) 205
Davis & Or v Eton Air Ltd [2004] All ER (D) 355
McIntosh & Or v Victoria & Albert Museum [2003] All ER (D) 359
South West Trains v McDonnell [2003] All ER (D) 64

Professional Memberships

Employment Law Bar Association (Katharine is a past elected member and Treasurer of the ELBA Committee)
Employment Lawyers Association (Katharine is a past elected member of the ELA Management Committee)
Industrial Law Society

Professional Regulatory & Discipline

Professional Regulatory & Discipline:

Katharine has experience, with and without leading Counsel, of professional conduct hearings including those before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the General Teaching Council (GTC). In addition, Katharine has represented a number of employees at internal disciplinary hearings.

Some examples of Katharine’s work in this area are as follows:

Katharine represented a primary school teacher before the GTC accused of a myriad of misconduct allegations. All but one allegation was denied and Katharine succeeded in having all the other allegations dismissed.
Katharine represented a nurse before the NMC who had been accused of hitting an elderly patient. Despite the act having occurred, Katharine managed to persuade the panel not to strike the nurse off the register.
Katharine acted as junior Counsel to John Hendy QC in a case involving a trainee doctor before, what was then the GMC, in a competency hearing. All charges against the doctor were dismissed.

HR Professional Support

HR Professional Support:

Katharine has practiced in the field of employment law for over 20 years and is recognised as a leading expert in both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 directories. She has extensive experience in conducting both disciplinary and grievance investigations involving a wide range of issues including allegations of whistleblowing, discrimination, bullying and harassment, victimisation, dishonesty, health and safety, and other forms of serious misconduct regarding both senior and junior employees. Katharine is also experienced in undertaking department wide reviews of practice and procedure as well as advising managers and other HR professionals who are conducting their own procedures 'in house'. Her investigations have been praised by numerous Judges in employment tribunal proceedings.

Recent examples of Katharine's work in this area include:

Conducting the high- profile investigation into allegations of race discrimination and bullying against the manager of the England Women’s Football Team;
Conducting numerous investigations into allegations of discrimination and whistleblowing in law firms and banking and financial institutions;
Acting for a well-known public school in conducting an investigation into allegations of discrimination and bullying and harassment, brought by multiple employees against five senior members of staff;
Acting for a private equity group in investigating allegations of whistleblowing, race and sex discrimination and sexual assault against its Chief Executive;
Acting for a non-departmental public body in conducting a grievance investigation at appeal stage brought by a lawyer against numerous senior employees. Katharine attended the employment tribunal as a witness in the proceedings which followed and her report was highly praised by the Judge;
Acting for one of the country's leading business schools in investigating the identity of the author of a 'poison pen letter' which had been sent to a senior member of the organisation;
Acting for a University in undertaking a department-wide review of the practices and procedures of its HR department, with particular focus on how it deals with complaints involving equality issues. Katharine's report has been relied on by the University in a number of subsequent proceedings and has received praise from the Judges hearing the case.

Katharine also has experience of advising and presenting cases at internal disciplinary, grievance and appeal hearings.

Ministry of Defence v. B A Hay

An impairment for the purposes of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 s.1(1) could be an illness or the result of an illness. The appellant employer (M) appealed against an...
Camden Primary Care Trust v. K Atchoe

The EAT had been correct in finding that an employment tribunal had erred in its interpretation of the Employment Rights Act 1996 s.13(3) that there was no unauthorised deduction from...
Transport General & Workers Union v. Brauer Coley Ltd

Where a trade union obtained a protective award under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 s.188(1B)(a) against an employer who had failed to consult before making collective...
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