Bio
Sarah is an Employment Partner.
Sarah specialises in advising UK and international employers on complex workforce issues, employment disputes and strategic people matters.
She works with SME and large businesses, overseas businesses with UK operations, and senior executives, with particular experience across the travel and aviation, hospitality, manufacturing, consumer and communications sectors.
Her expertise spans a range of high-value or reputationally-sensitive employment issues including employment tribunal litigation, discrimination and whistleblowing claims, complex exits, TUPE, restructuring and redundancy programmes, disciplinary and grievance processes, and long-term sickness absence where disability discrimination risks need to be handled carefully.
She also supports businesses on the employment aspects of corporate and commercial transactions, with expertise on mergers and acquisitions and outsourcing arrangements involving TUPE, as well as real estate transactions.
Examples of Sarah’s work include:
- Leading strategic employment advice for a major UK short-haul airline on a complex disability case involving extensive reasonable adjustments, two grievances, and disciplinary proceedings.
- Successfully defending a major European airline against an employment tribunal claim brought by a former pilot.
- Defending a major European airline in relation to various employment tribunal claims, including a former pilot pursuing a claim for unfair dismissal and a whistleblowing claim by a former member of cabin crew.
- Advising a client operating within the hotels sector on a recent hotel purchase, including carrying out employment due diligence and advising on the transfer of employees.
- Successfully returning an employee to work following in excess of 12 months off with mental health issues.
- Facilitating an agreement between two service providers, avoiding the need to undertake a redundancy procedure and the associated liabilities relating to the potential TUPE transfer of an employee.
- Advising employees involved in a mass settlement agreement process concering more than 500 individuals.