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Employment

Nick has been involved in many complex multi-day trials involving discrimination, harassment, whistleblowing, unfair dismissal and various claims relating to loss of earnings. He has gained a reputation for giving clear, unvarnished, practical advice as well as being approachable and easy to work with. He has a particular specialism in defending large employers and in particular retailers; solicitors appreciate his ability to grasp complex procedures and processes in their clients’ businesses, and to help Tribunals understand them. He is also particularly interested in the impact of autism in the workplace, and has run a seminar on this topic, working with a consultant psychiatrist.

Personal Injury

As a junior tenant Nick cut his teeth on numerous road traffic small claims and now undertakes a variety of Fast Track and Multi-Track work for both Claimants and Defendants in relation to road traffic accidents (including cases covering LVI, fraud, and credit hire issues), highway claims, ‘slippers and trippers’, accidents at work and occupiers liability amongst others. Nick regularly attends court for trials and interim hearings.

Employment Law

Below are highlights of some of his recent cases: -

Case 1: Nick acted for a Respondent in a 5-day trial involving claims of direct race discrimination, racial harassment, and breach of contract. The Claimant wished to go on holiday to get married. His employer did not give leave due to staffing problems and he went anyway. He was then dismissed for taking unauthorised leave. He claimed that the actions were race discrimination. All claims were dismissed. The judgment can be found here.

Case 2: The Claimant (C) was allegedly called a racial slur, by an employee of a company separate to the Respondent (R) for whom Nick acted. C felt he was not looked after by R in relation to that incident and felt that several historic actions by them were also acts of race discrimination. There were some very technical legal questions about whether R could be liable for the actions of another company. In addition, there had been issues of very late (but very important) witness statements, and Nick successfully persuaded ET to allow the late evidence. After a 5 day trial all claims were dismissed.

Case 3: The Claimant failed to bring her claim in time, due to a series of calamitous actions by her solicitors. The solicitors tried to use COVID-19 as an excuse to get the appeal hearing adjourned. Nick persuaded the EAT to continue. The substantive appeal was dismissed and the Claimant was not allowed to bring her appeal out of time.

Case 4: The Claimant brought many claims regarding age discrimination. The matter was listed to consider whether his claim should be struck out or a deposit order made, due to his claim having no or little prospect of succeeding. After seeing Nick’s argument, the Claimant settled the claim for a very small sum.  

Case 5: The Claimant brought claims of unfair dismissal and discrimination. He worked on a rig off the coast of Africa; there was a very complex legal structure by which he was appointed to the role. He was made redundant due to financial difficulties caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. The case was worth potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds due the Claimant’s high earning potential. The claim was, however, dismissed after a 6 day trial. Read the judgment here.

Case 6: The Claimant brought a claim of discrimination. He was dismissed because he made inappropriate advances on a junior colleague at work. After a 6 day trial, Nick successfully defended the claim, illustrating not only that the Respondent did not act in a discriminatory matter, but in fact had good cause to dismiss. In addition, a crucial witness for the Respondent was taken ill at the last minute – Nick was able to persuade the reluctant Tribunal to split the trial so as to allow him to give evidence some months later. Without him, the Respondent would likely have lost. Read the judgment here.

Case 7: Nick was Counsel in the case of Mr M Sanha v Facilicom Cleaning Services Ltd: UKEAT/0250/18/VP. This case gave important clarification on the definition of contributory fault in unfair dismissal claims. Read the judgment here.

Case 8: Nick was Counsel in the case of Ikejiuba v Morrisons which reached the EAT. The Claimant had been offered a job with the Respondent for a 43-hour week including Sunday working. When he indicated that he could not work on Sundays for religious reasons, the Respondent made a revised offer which accommodated the Claimant not working on Sunday, if he worked 37 hours rather than 43 hours. The Claimant did not accept that offer, and so the Respondent retracted the original job offer as the Claimant was not willing to accept the revised hours. His claim was dismissed as the ET concluded that the Claimant had not shown that the reason or principal reason for his dismissal was that he proposed to opt out of Sunday working, Whilst on appeal the Claimant ran very technical arguments on the interpretation of the Employment Rights Act 1996, Nick was able to persuade the EAT to uphold the original decision on the facts and uphold the well-established and orthodox legal position. Read the judgment here.

Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury Law

As a junior tenant Nick cut his teeth on numerous road traffic small claims and now undertakes a variety of Fast Track and Multi-Track work for both Claimants and Defendants in relation to road traffic accidents (including cases covering LVI, fraud, and credit hire issues), highway claims, ‘slippers and trippers’, accidents at work and occupiers liability amongst others.

Nick regularly attends court for trials and interim hearings. He also frequently provides advice on both liability and quantum and drafts documents including Particulars of Claim, Defences and Schedules of Loss.

Nick is happy to take on cases on a CFA basis.

Selected cases

  • Mrs L v Mr F (2014)
    For the Claimant in a high value multi-track involving complex medical evidence surrounding the diagnosis of a degenerative condition known as an Arnold Chiari Malformation and the impact of the Road Traffic Accident on this condition.
  • Mr C Vs an Insurer (2014)
    For the Claimant in a high value multi-track Road Traffic Accident case, which unfortunately caused the Claimant relentless heart failure. The Claim settled for just below £300,000.
  • Mrs A v a London Borough (2014)
    For the Claimant in a high value multi-track in which the Claimant tripped over a paving stone (ongoing).

Direct Access

Nick is authorised to accept instructions direct from members of the public. He encourages clients who are considering this route to contact Chambers and discuss their problem.

In suitable cases, Nick can provide client conferences, written advices and representation at court. Nick accepts public access work in employment law.

Accreditations

  • Nick is great on the detail and always gets really stuck into a case so that he knows it well’ – Legal 500 2023
  • "Nick is great on the technical work, but also pragmatic, responsive and good with witnesses." Legal 500 2022
  • "An extremely technical barrister, whose strength lies in his attention to detail and ability to distil the most complicated factual scenarios. Great with clients and witnesses, and presents a convincing argument." Legal 500 2021
  • Nick’s approachability, professionalism and robust advocacy skills sets a level of service, which is difficult to match’ – Emma Thompson, Partner, Thackray Williams Solicitors
  • Upright, professional, knowledgeable and very approachable are the words that I would use to describe Mr Nick Singer. His counsel and guidance steered me to a very satisfactory remedy in the case against my former employer. Nick was very capable and more than up to the challenge I presented, he is the man you want fighting your corner. I have no hesitation in recommending Nick Singer’ – Graham Gould
  • Nick invariably approaches cases with a professional and pragmatic attitude and has proved himself invaluable in the matters I have instructed him on” – David Rowlands, formerly of Slater Heelis Solicitors
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Areas of Expertise

Related News

Employment Newsletter

Employment Newsletter

Welcome to the latest roundup from our barristers at 42 Bedford Row Employment Practice, with the latest news and unique insights from our team.


Published: 23rd Aug 2018

Suhail vs. Barking NHS TRUST and PELC

Suhail vs. Barking NHS TRUST and PELC

Our member Nick Singer was recently involved in an interesting and important EAT case, Suhail vs. Barking NHS TRUST and PELC (UKEAT/0536/13/RN reported on Lawtel).


Published: 7th Jul 2015

More news

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