In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Emma Bartlett , Emma Sangeelee and Rachael Parker discuss the following: The viral moment the US based Tech Company Astronomer’s CEO was caught on the Jumbo screen at a Coldplay concert embracing his Chief People Officer somewhat romantically. It is reported that both the CEO in question and the Chief People Officer have since resigned. We discuss the important employment-based issues a relationship between two very senior employees such as this raises. We a...
Aug 05, 2025•30 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Senior Associate Yulia Fedorenko and Partners Emma Bartlett and Beth Hale discuss the following: An autistic worker at a children’s centre who was subject to derogatory comments by his boss in Wrexham, Wales. We discuss the nuances of protected characteristics, and the use of certain terminology and language in the workplace. The employment tribunal ruling that nonverbal expressions of disappointment - such as sighing at colleagues - can be considered discr...
Jul 01, 2025•14 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Wonu Sanda , Emma Bartlett , and Beth Hale discuss the following: The treatment of a professor at the University of Sussex, after she was accused of transphobia and subsequently left the University; this dispute led to the University being issued a fine of £585,000 for failing to uphold Freedom of Speech. We also consider the facts of Higgs v Farmer, to give context in an employment law scenario. Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, removed CEO David...
Apr 11, 2025•19 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Emma Bartlett , Sarah Chilton , Wonu Sanda and first-time contributor Liz Pearson discuss the following: Sam Kerr (a high profile Australian and Chelsea football player) being found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment. We dig deeper into the circumstances that led to the criminal prosecution and the context behind the headlines. We also consider whether Kerr’s actions would meet the test for harassment under employment law. Luis Rubiales (former pr...
Mar 17, 2025•43 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett and Senior Associate Wonu Sanda discuss the following: 200 companies implement a permanent 4-day week and Tokyo’s 4-day working week plans to increase the fertility rate. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a 4-day week without a reduction in pay, including the potential impact on productivity and possible overworking; flexibility for caring responsibilities; and reducing personal expenditure. Lord Rose claims...
Feb 10, 2025•29 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett and Associate Kia Aoki discuss the following: The suggestion by the Government to give overweight people weight-loss jabs to help them get back to work and the potential disability discrimination issues that may arise. The BBC’s commencement of an independent workplace culture review, with particular focus on the stated aims of the review and the effectiveness of such reviews. Benjamin Mendy’s claim against his former cl...
Dec 12, 2024•36 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Partners Sarah Chilton and Beth Hale and Associate Kia Aoki discuss the following: The allegations of rape and sexual assault against former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed. We discuss how organisations should deal with a powerful personality, as well as the extent to which due diligence on a company before it is acquired can bring to light historic sexual assault claims. The latest developments in relation to former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards and the re...
Oct 02, 2024•30 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Partners Sarah Chilton and Beth Hale , Senior Associate Wonu Sanda and Associate Kia Aoki discuss the following: The dismissal of Jermaine Jenas following allegations of inappropriate behaviour, which has been the latest in a string of scandals surrounding the BBC. We consider the speed with which the BBC took action to dismiss Jenas, the increase of inappropriate behaviour taking place on messaging apps and takeaways for employers. The far-right riots whic...
Sep 05, 2024•36 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partner Beth Hale , Senior Associate Wonu Sanda and Associate Kia Aoki discuss the following: The departures of Gareth Southgate as manager of the England men’s national football team, Vaughan Gething as Welsh first minister and President Joe Biden dropping out of the US presidential race. We explore how to determine the right time to leave a role. We discuss key considerations, including reputational issues, bonuses and post-termination restrictive covenant...
Jul 26, 2024•26 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett, Senior Associate Wonu Sanda and Associate Kia Aoki discuss the following: Scottie Scheffler, the current number one ranked golfer in the world, was arrested and charged with assault of a police officer and three misdemeanours during the PGA Championship. All charges were later dropped. In light of this, we explore when and how employers should take action in regards to an employee’s conduct outside the workplace. Virgin ...
Jul 04, 2024•27 min
We are delighted to share Episode 37 of The Lawdown, our regular podcast discussing the latest key employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories, and the interesting legal issues behind them! You can listen to the episode here . In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Partner Beth Hale , Partner Emma Bartlet t and Associate Kia Aoki discuss the following: A Cleaner was apparently dismissed by an employment agency, for eating a leftover sandwich which she believed would be di...
Apr 04, 2024•31 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Partners Beth Hale and Sarah Chilton , Senior Associate Wonu Sanda and Associate Kia Aoki discuss the following: Recently published statistics reveal that women of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage are earning on average almost a third less an hour than white British men in the UK. In light of this, we discuss the importance of ethnicity pay gap reporting and whether it should be made mandatory, and the difficulties and limitations that may arise in produc...
Jan 24, 2024•36 min
In our latest (interesting and non-Christmas themed) episode of The Lawdown, Partner Emma Bartlett and Senior Associate, Wonu Sanda discuss the following: 1. The historical case of Justine Blainey, a teenager, who in the 1980s brought a successful sex discrimination claim in the Supreme Court of Canada, to strike out provisions in the Ontario HR Code which prohibited girls from playing sports with boys, arguing that she should be allowed to play ice hockey with the boys. We discuss how this case...
Dec 14, 2023•35 min
We are delighted to share Episode 34 of The Lawdown, our regular podcast discussing the latest key employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories, and the interesting legal issues behind them! In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partners Emma Bartlett and Beth Hale discuss the following: 1. The Royal Kingston-upon-Thames Council has been ordered by the Employment Tribunal to pay £25,000 in compensation for, amongst other things, failing to update a transgender employee’s n...
Nov 15, 2023•23 min•Ep. 34
We are delighted to share Episode 33 of The Lawdown, our regular podcast discussing the latest key employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories, and the interesting legal issues behind them! In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partners Emma Bartlett and Beth Hale and Senior Associate, Wonu Sanda, discuss the following: 1. The well-known high street chain, Wilko, going into administration and the resultant, unfortunate mass redundancies. We discuss who bears the responsib...
Sep 12, 2023•29 min
We are delighted to share Episode 32 of The Lawdown, our regular podcast discussing the latest key employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories, and the interesting legal issues behind them! In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Partner Emma Bartlett , Senior Associate Wonu Sanda , and seconded Trainee Solicitor Sam Whiteley discuss the following: The legal issues surrounding the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s handling of a sexual misconduct claim against a man in ...
Aug 04, 2023•33 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partner Sarah Chilton and Senior Associates Pooja Dasgupta and Wonu Sanda discuss the following: 1. The legal issues surrounding Phillip Schofield's resignation from 'This Morning' and the subsequent ITV investigation after he admitted to having an "unwise but not illegal" relationship with a younger, male colleague which revealed that he had been lying about the nature of this relationship to his employer, colleagues and the public. 2. Amazon UK offering te...
Jul 07, 2023•30 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown , Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett and Senior Associate Pooja Dasgupta discuss the following: The Ritz job applicant informed of afro hair ban - we discuss the potential discriminatory impact of “employee [hair] grooming” policies and how to prevent such behaviour/practices, and look at the adoption of the Halo Code (the UK’s first Black Hair code). The recent investigations into allegations of misconduct at the CBI, the Fire brigade and the Met. Finally,...
May 09, 2023•26 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett and Senior Associates Wonu Sanda and Pooja Dasgupta discuss the following: Matt Hancock’s leaked WhatsApp messages - thousands of the former Health Secretary’s covid WhatsApp messages leaked by Isabel Oakeshott to the Telegraph; the tension between upholding confidentiality agreements and the disclosure of information in public interest; and the potential risks of using WhatsApp for work. Gary Lineker’s BBC Twitter storm ...
Mar 24, 2023•35 min
We are delighted to introduce this Sports Edition of the Lawdown podcast, discussing our take on the employment, partnership and other legal issues behind some fresh news stories in the sporting world. In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett and Paralegal Mitchell Blythe discuss the following: Eddie Jones Move to Rugby Australia: The significance of post-termination restrictive covenants and confidentiality clauses as the Rugby Football Union (RFU) failure to i...
Feb 20, 2023•22 min
Happy New Year and best wishes for 2023 from the Lawdown Podcast team! We are delighted to kick off our first Lawdown podcast of the year discussing our take on the employment, partnership and other legal issues behind some fresh news stories. In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett and Senior Associate Wonu Sanda discuss the following: Naomi Osaka pregnancy announcement: we focus on the changing attitudes and practices towards pregnant and returning mothers in...
Jan 19, 2023•35 min
It’s December – and that means Christmas plans and festivities are underway! But if you want a break from all of that then we are delighted to share another episode of our topical podcast, The Lawdown , where we discuss our take on recent employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories and the interesting legal issues behind them. In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Senior Associates Wonu Sanda and Pooja Dasgupta , alongside Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett discuss the ...
Dec 13, 2022•34 min
We are delighted to share Episode 25 of The Lawdown, our regular podcast discussing the latest key employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories, and the interesting legal issues behind them. In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Senior Associate Pooja Dasgupta and Partners Beth Hale and Sarah Chilton discuss the following: Manchester United’s handling of allegations made against Mason Greenwood, pending the outcome of criminal proceedings against the prominent footballer, ...
Nov 11, 2022•24 min
We are delighted to share Episode 24 of The Lawdown , our regular podcast discussing the latest key employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories, and the interesting legal issues behind them. In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partner Emma Bartlett and Senior Associates Wonu Sanda and Pooja Dasgupta discuss the following: The government’s pledge to scrap the current cap on banker bonuses, forming part of its ambitious deregulation plans for London’s financial industry i...
Oct 07, 2022•38 min
We are delighted to share Episode 23 of The Lawdown, our regular podcast discussing the latest key employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories, and the interesting legal issues behind them. In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partner Emma Bartlett and Senior Associates Wonu Sanda and Pooja Dasgupta discuss the following: Dina Asher-Smith’s call for more research into the effect of periods on performance after her cycle caused her to suffer from cramp at the European Cha...
Aug 30, 2022•34 min
We are delighted to share Episode 22 of The Lawdown , our regular podcast discussing the latest key employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories, and the interesting legal issues behind them. In this episode of The Lawdown, Partner Emma Bartlett and Senior Associates Wonu Sanda and Pooja Dasgupta delve into the legal and topical issues behind some recent headlines, including: The concluding act to the Sue Gray report and the government’s Partygate saga. We examine what the...
Jul 07, 2022•29 min
We are delighted to share Episode 21 of The Lawdown , our regular podcast discussing the latest key employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories, and the interesting legal issues behind them. In this episode, Partner, Beth Hale , and Associates, Pooja Dasgupta , Winnifred Sarfo-Gyamfi and Yulia Fedorenko , discuss the legal issues arising from the latest news stories making the headlines, including: 1. The infamous Will Smith and Chris Rock Oscar slap - exploring the appro...
Apr 28, 2022•29 min
We are delighted to share Episode 20 of The Lawdown, our regular podcast discussing the latest key employment, discrimination and partnership law-related news stories, and the interesting legal issues behind them! In this episode of The Lawdown, Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett , Senior Associate Wonu Sanda and Associate Winnifred Sarfo-Gyamfi discuss the law behind some fascinating recent news stories, including: 1. A West Ham footballer who has been reprimanded for an alarming video of him...
Mar 03, 2022•39 min
It’s a new year – which, for the Lawdown podcast, means we get to share more of our legal take on new and interesting stories in the news with you! So please join us for our first episode of the year where Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett , Senior Associate Wonu Sanda and Associate Pooja Dasgupta kick off by discussing some of the top news stories so far, including: 1. Cutting sick pay for unvaccinated staff who are required to isolate as a close contact of someone who has tested positive fo...
Jan 28, 2022•30 min
In our latest episode of The Lawdown, Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett discuss with Associate Pooja Dasgupta : The FCA’s consultation on proposals to boost disclosure of diversity on listed company Boards and Executive Committees, including the wide-ranging benefits of embracing such proposals and enforcement considerations; Creative measures taken by firms to tackle staff burnout and workplace stress, including introducing unlimited leave policies and annual workplace closures, and the pote...
Dec 09, 2021•34 min
