Sarina Hayes: Litigation at Backhouse

Today we heard from Sarina Hayes of our corporate member, Backhouse Solicitors. We took the opportunity to take the above photograph showing her and President Francis standing either side of our new pull-up banner, which highlights our connection with Backhouse.

She came to talk to us about litigation at Backhouse, concentrating on her own specialisation of Employment Law.

Sometimes she has been called on to act on behalf of employees and sometimes on behalf of employers. One of the questions she often asks is “What do you want the solution to be?”. It is best to avoid the expense and delay of taking a case to an Employment Tribunal if possible.

She mentioned an occasion when she explained to one client that the applicable law meant that she would lose any case she brought against her employer. The client retorted “You are wrong!” and refused to believe her.

Another time an employee wished to bring a case against his employer on the basis that he was deaf and the employer had not taken proper account of his disability. Unfortunately for him the evidence he produced to support his claim that he was deaf was a hearing assessment that said he had perfect hearing!

Of course, employers can make mistakes too. In some cases they fail to record their reasons for dismissing a particular person, making any defence of a claim more difficult.