Manchester, United Kingdom
Fiona is a partner in the employment team at Pannone Corporate. Fiona qualified in 1997 and became a partner in 2003.
Fiona has considerable experience of handling tribunal and High Court cases and advising on all aspects of employment law, including unfair dismissals, discrimination, redundancies, trade union issues and collective consultation.
She also advises on day to day HR issues such as handling sickness absence, conduct and performance issues, bullying and harassment, grievances and disciplinaries.
Fiona has particular experience of advising and acting for both employers and employees in respect of equal pay, restrictive covenants (including injunctive proceedings), and TUPE.
Fiona is a regular speaker on employment related topics both externally and as part of the team’s in house training programme.
Fiona was “recommended” in the 2015 edition of Legal 500
Notable cases include:
Trainee, solicitor, partner
Partner
Fiona is a regular speaker on employment related topics both externally and as part of the team’s in house training programme.
Fiona was “recommended” in the 2015 edition of Legal 500 and described as ‘technically very able’ in the 2016 edition of Legal 500.
Notable cases include:
Acting for the chief executive officer of a family owned company who was facing spurious allegations of gross misconduct having blown the whistle to his employer about bribery, price fixing, and tax evasion. The board’s initial response to his disclosures was to deny the allegations and to invite him to a disciplinary hearing to face allegations of gross misconduct and financial impropriety, including a false accusation that he was having an affair with a colleague. Following correspondence firstly with the company and then with its lawyers, we were able to secure a satisfactory termination package for my client which compensated him financially and included confidentiality provisions to protect his reputation in the industry.
Advising a large RSL about the application of the TUPE Regulations where two contracts for floating support with the relevant City Council were re-tendered and awarded to different providers. The complicating factor was that the support provided by my client across the whole of the city was, following the re-tendering process, split into different geographical areas with a number of different providers taking on my client’s service users. The new providers asserted that TUPE did not apply because the ethos of the service had changed fundamentally and because my client’s employees were not clearly assigned to any of the new geographical areas. Facing redundancy costs in the region of £125,000, my client was keen to argue that TUPE applied. We were able to put forward a strong legal case for the application of TUPE, on the basis of which my client was able to successfully negotiate an agreement under which it was accepted that TUPE applied to six out of the nine employees working on the contracts. I also advised about collective TUPE consultation and individual redundancy consultation running in parallel to protect my client’s position in the event that an agreement could not be reached. |
Providing employment law advice and support for a London based political research institute - Over the past 18 months I have advised on the exit of its chief executive officer, a collective grievance and an approach from Unite the Union seeking formal recognition. I advised the client on negotiations with the union, communications with employees about the proposal for recognition including the necessary changes to terms and conditions of employment to allow for collective negotiation of certain employment terms going forward, and on the content of the recognition agreement. Most recently, I advised on proposals for and implementation of a major restructure and consequent redundancies. |
TUPE advice for large social housing provider - Advising a large RSL about the application of the TUPE Regulations where two contracts for floating support with the relevant City Council were re-tendered and awarded to different providers. The complicating factor was that the support provided by my client across the whole of the city was, following the re-tendering process, split into different geographical areas with a number of different providers taking on my client’s service users. The new providers asserted that TUPE did not apply because the ethos of the service had changed fundamentally and because my client’s employees were not clearly assigned to any of the new geographical areas. Facing redundancy costs in the region of £125,000, my client was keen to argue that TUPE applied. We were able to put forward a strong legal case for the application of TUPE, on the basis of which my client was able to successfully negotiate an agreement under which it was accepted that TUPE applied to six out of the nine employees working on the contracts. I also advised about collective TUPE consultation and individual redundancy consultation running in parallel to protect my client’s position in the event that an agreement could not be reached. |
Listed as a 'recommended' lawyer in 2015 edition of Legal 500
2015
Listed as 'technically very able' in Legal 500 2016 edition
2016
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