Louise Quigley

Employment

Louise practices exclusively in Employment Law. She is a sought-after Junior handling cases at all levels. Louise is currently ranked as a Band 1 Employment Barristers in both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 having been recognised consistently as a leader in her field from the start of her career.  She is recognised for her expertise in relation to disability discrimination, whistleblowing and maternity/pregnancy cases. She is regularly instructed by FTSE 100 companies, medium to large businesses, public sector clients such as local authorities and NHS trusts. Louise has significant experience acting for care sector clients and is adept at navigating the complex issues that can arise in such a setting.

In addition, she has a strong Claimant practice specialising in representing women who have suffered pregnancy and/or maternity discrimination.  Louise works with the charity “Pregnant then Screwed”.

Louise compliments her employment practice by undertaking SENDIST and Upper Tribunal (Administrative) Chambers cases and acts for local authorities and Schools in civil discrimination cases.

Her recent instructions include:

– Representing a leading UK Supermarket in its defence of allegations of disability discrimination.

– Advising and Representing a Local Authority in respect of “term-time” holiday pay calculations involving hundreds of employees

– Representing a Company in a claim for transgender discrimination arising out of the provision of PPE equipment and company uniform policy;

– Representing a Company in its defence of allegations of disability and sex discrimination where the Claimant was terminally ill and had been dismissed for theft.

– Successfully represented a Claimant against a US company claiming disability discrimination leading to a six figure award.

– Advising and representing an agency nurse claiming pregnancy/maternity discrimination arising out of Covid-19 measures against both the agency and the NHS Trust.

Employment Appeal

Louise has a busy appellate practice and frequently appears in the EAT in appeals where she was not instructed at first instance.

Recent instructions have included:

• United Taxis v (1) Comolly (2) Tidman [2023] EAT 93, reported decision on “dual employment” and inability to have two employers in respect of same role.
• Drafting Grounds of Appeal on perversity relating to split Employment Tribunal decision with the Judge dissenting.
• Represented a Local Authority in an appeal challenging a refusal to Reconsider a Judgement seven years after the conclusion of the trial based on false representations on disclosure.

Previous appearances in the Employment Appeal Tribunal have resulted in reported cases in respect of employment status, inferences relevant to the burden of proof in discrimination cases and causation in remedy cases.

County Court

Louise also conducts litigation in the County Court in respect of Equality Act 2010 cases.  Previous instructions include acting for a rail operator in disability discrimination claims and advising students and Universities regarding Section 15 and reasonable adjustment issues.

Notable Cases

• Representing an NHS Trust in respect of complex menopause and associative discrimination claims in the context of Covid-19.
• Advising and Representing a Local Authority in respect of “term-time only” holiday pay calculations involving hundreds of employees
• Representing an NHS Trust in a career-long loss remedy case lasting 2 weeks.
• Representing a Company in a claim for transgender discrimination arising out of the provision of PPE equipment and company uniform policy;
• Representing a Pharmaceutical Company in its defence of allegations of disability discrimination in respect of acoustic noise in a warehouse environment.
• Advising and representing a leading supermarket in respect of allegations of sexual harassment in a warehouse environment.

Appointments

Tribunal Judge in Health, Education and Social Care (2023)

Accredited Mediator

Associations

Employment Lawyer’s Association

Industrial Law Society

Education

BA(Hons) Government and Law, University of Manchester

BVC, Manchester Metropolitan University

Prescribed Information

Miss Louise Quigley is a practising barrister, who is regulated by the Bar Standards Board. Details of information held by the BSB about Louise Quigley can be found here.

Miss Quigley’s clerks will happily provide no obligation quotations for all legal services that she provides. Their contact details can be found here. It is most common for Miss Quigley to undertake Tribunal services and advisory work for a brief fee plus additional refresher days. For advisory work including paperwork and conferences it is most commonly charged at an hourly rate although fixed fees are available.  Miss Quigley will typically return paperwork within 10-14 days, however professional commitments, complexity and volume of documentation can affect these approximate timescales. With prior agreement, paperwork may be returned quicker.

Miss Quigley also undertakes Direct Access work. This work is undertaken on a contractual basis agreed between the client and Miss Quigley’s clerks. This is on fixed fee basis for a specific events such as a conference, advisory work, a hearing with additional hearing days (refreshers) or the drafting of specific documents. All work agreed to be undertaken by Miss Quigley with the fixed fee cost will be clearly outlined in the direct access contract signed by the client and will be payable in full prior to the commencement of the work.