Joanne Connolly

PROFILE

Joanne is Deputy Head of Chambers at 9 St John Street. She has been named by Chambers & Partners in the top band of employment law barristers for many years.

Joanne prides herself on her meticulous preparation and a supremely focused attention to detail is central to her approach. For one with such intellectual capacity, she is refreshingly engaging with clients.

Her combination of exceptional advocacy with approachability makes her one of the ‘go-to’ employment advocates both on the Circuit and nationally.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

Joanne practices exclusively in employment, equality and discrimination law including employment related disputes and services claims. She is pleased to act for both employers and employees, service providers and service users, for the public sector and the private sector and for in-house solicitors as well as those in private practice. Her work incorporates employment disputes in all areas including the NHS, education, banking, local government, the police and the legal profession as well as in business generally.

She regularly handles cases where there is a great deal at stake whether in terms of compensation, number of employees affected or publicity. Her practice focuses on the higher-value, more complex, sensitive or multi-week discrimination, transfer of undertakings, whistle-blowing and working time claims but also includes unfair dismissal and redundancy claims.

She has long experience of dealing with case involving difficult issues of the application of EU law and compatibility with human rights.She is experienced at both first instance and appellate level. She also has substantial experience of acting as a representative in mediations.

NOTABLE CASES

• The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries v Mr R Davda [2023] EAT 63 – complex direct and indirect race discrimination claim against a qualifications body involving issues of discrimination by proxy – on appeal to the Court of Appeal.
• Alcedo Orange Ltd v Mrs G Ferridge-Gunn [2023] EAT 78 – discrimination claim concerning the correct application of the law in ‘tainted information’ cases.
• Cottrell v Avon Cosmetics [2022] EAT 89 – Tribunal practice and procedure in respect of Early Conciliation and the joinder of a party.
• Bessong v Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust [2020] ICR 849; [2020] IRLR 4, EAT – employer’s potential liability for third party harassment in the health sector
• Private Medicine Intermediaries v Hodkinson [2016] UKEAT/0134/15 – disability discrimination scope of s.15 EqA claims and harassment claims
• Davies v Droylsden Academy UKEAT/0044/16 – unlawful deduction from wages in the education sector
• Frenkel Topping v King UKEAT/0106/15 – protected disclosures /whistleblowing and constructive dismissal in respect of an in-house solicitor
• D'Silva v MMU [2013] UKEAT/0437/11 – multiple appeals in race discrimination claims in Higher Education
• Marcroft v Heartland (Midlands) Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 438 - the application of TUPE 2006
• Patel v Oldham MBC & the Governors of Rushcroft Primary School [2010] IRLR 280 – definition of disability
• North Wales Probation Area v Edwards UKEAT/0468/07 - employment status of sessional workers
• Kirton v Tetrosyl [2003] EWCA Civ 619 – definition of disability
• UNISON and others v RCO Support Services & others [2002] EWCA Civ 464 – the scope of TUPE 2006
• Batty v BSB [2002] EWCA Civ 648 - employment contract - right to withhold salary from a senior executive
• Regina v Azmy [1996] 7 Med LR 415 – instructed by a client in the health sector to deal with the entitlement of a defendant in a criminal trial to a complainant's medical records
• Staffordshire County Council v Barber [1996] ICR 379, CA - listed together with Biggs v Somerset County Council, res judicata and time limits in Tribunal claims brought under EC law
• Mediguard v Thame [1994] IRLR 504, EAT - whether compensation for unfair dismissal was pay within Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome