martin fodder

Martin has conducted  litigation and advised  in this area in a wide variety of sectors including

• bond dealing,
• insurance broking,
• stockbroking,
• travel agencies,
• printing ink manufacturing,
• event promotion
• car body repair specialists
• logistics

He has also mediated disputes in this field.

He is co writing a book on litigation between employers and ex employees which will be published later in the year by Wildy Simmonds and Hall.

Discrimination law is a further area of expertise in which Martin has acted for and advised (amongst others)

• a major UK airline resisting an allegation of sex discrimination;
• a major financial plc resisting allegations of sex discrimination and harassment;
• a firm of solicitors in respect of arace discrimination claim brought by an ex solicitor employee;
• a social worker training quango in respect of a race discrimination claim; 
• an NHS Trust resisting claims for equal pay from 5 female consultants;
• Universities resisting race discrimination and victimisation claims
• A children's charity resisting a claim of disability discrimination.
• A non departmental government body  resisting claim of failure to make reasonable adjustments in respect of a disabled applicant for employment
• The Bar Standards Board in relation to a claim of disability discrimination against the board (Islam v BSB, [2012] All ER (D) 05 (Aug). One of the first cases on the meaning of "Competence Standard" in the Equality Act

He is Joint Editor of the Equal Opportunities volume of Atkin : Court Forms (Butterworths) (2012) and a contributor to the Law Society’s new Guide  to the Equality Act.

In the area of Transfer of Undertakings Martin has again advised or acted for a wide range of clients including an airline, a major insurance company, outsourcing contractors, solicitors and local/regional government institutions. He has fought and advised on a number of cases concerning the service provider change provisions of TUPE 2006. He appeared in Playle v Churchill Insurance EAT 1999 on the issue of whether an economic entity retained its identity following a transfer –He is a Contributor to "Transfer of Undertakings", Sweet & Maxwell (ongoing) and to "Cross Border Transfers and Employee Rights" Tothill 2004 ed. Susan Mayne and has written various articles with John Bowers on this area.

Recent TUPE work includes:-

• Advising a local authority with regard to the  employment aspects of its partnership agreement with a  PCT
• Advice to an  arm’s length (housing) management organisation facing claim for failure to consult under TUPE
• Advice to firms of solicitors who had lost term contracts for supply of legal services and the TUPE implications of such losses.
• Dispute between two advertising agencies as to whether TUPE 3 (1) (b) applied when one lost a contract for the supply of advertising services to the other (ongoing).
• Jones v Cornwall County Council and Others: Bristol ET: whether TUPE 3 (1) (b) applied where the Law Society changed the composition of a panel of solicitors providing advice via a national helpline. Issues of fragmentation.
• Employment Tribunal Leeds; Strangeway v Clipper Logistics Limited & Others;   5 days, November 2009: whether TUPE applied where there was a change in the corporate identity of the client to whom the services were provided. 

Recent Whistleblowing work includes:-

• Employment Appeal Tribunal; BP PLC (appellant) v. ELSTONE and another (respondents) [2010] IRLR 558. Instructed by  BP: allegedly protected disclosures made whilst employed by a previous employer. Issue of law as to whether Mr Elstone protected in those circumstances or whether employer at the time of the disclosure has to be the same as the employer at the time of the detriment/dismissal. Appeal dismissed but permission was granted to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
• Birmingham Employment Tribunal Successful defence of a claim that employees had been dismissed because they had made protected disclosures. Claim dismissed because disclosures were not made in good faith and in any event had not been the reason or principal reason for the dismissals. Instructed by Wansboroughs, Devizes
• Acting for an NHS Trust in relation to claims by consultant surgeon that he was victimized for making protected disclosures, ongoing.

Martin is co-author (with John Bowers QC, Jeremy Lewis and Jack Mitchell) of "Whistleblowing, Law and Practice" (now in its second, 2012, edition), a leading text which is cited in many of significant CA and EAT authorities. A cumulative updater is available by clicking here

Experience includes recent work in cases before the Bar Standards Board (for the regulator), the disciplinary committee of a political party (for the party and also as legal adviser) and the Conduct Committee of the General Social Care Council (for the registrant).