Allison Bailey v Stonewall - Employment Tribunal hearing Thread 18

[ickky]

The Tribunal started on 25th April, witness testimony concluded on the 26th May. Closing arguments for council was on the 20th June.

There was also live tweeting from

twitter.com/tribunaltweets

Abbreviations:

AB: Allison Bailey, claimant
BC: Ben Cooper QC, barrister for AB
SW = Stonewall Equality Limited (respondent 1)
IO = Ijeoma Omambala QC, senior counsel - barrister for SW
RW = Robin White junior counsel to SW - assisting IO
GC = Garden Court Chambers Limited (respondent 2) (GCC )
AH = Andrew Hochhauser QC, senior counsel - barrister for GC
JR = Jane Russell junior counsel to GC - assisting AH
RM= Rajiv Menon QC & SH = Stephanie Harrison QC (jointly respondent 3 along with all members of GC except AB)
EJ = Employment Judge Goodman hearing the case

Panel = Judge Goodman, Mr M. Reuby and Ms Darmas

Thread 1 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4529887-Allison-Bailey-v-Stonewall-Employment-Tribunal-hearing?

Thread 2 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4542466-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-2

Thread 3 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4545725-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-3

Thread 4 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4546945-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-4

Thread 5 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4548160-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-5

Thread 6 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4550451-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-6

Thread 7 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4551757-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-7

Thread 8 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4552521-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-8

Thread 9 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4553181-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-9

Thread 10 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4553754-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-10

Thread 11 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4555145-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-11

Thread 12 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4555687-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-12

Thread 13 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4556235-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-13

Thread 14 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4556407-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-14

Thread 15 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4556803-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-15

Thread 16 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4557036-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-16

Thread 17 www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4561850-allison-bailey-v-stonewall-employment-tribunal-hearing-thread-17

Allison Bailey - claimant (4-9, 11-13 May)

Witnesses for the claimant:

Dr Nicola Williams - Fair Play for Women (29 April)
Dr Judith Green - A Woman's Place (29 April)
Kate Barker - LGB Alliance (3 May)
Lisa-Marie Taylor - FiLiA (4 May)

Witnesses for the respondents:

Stephen Lue - barrister for GCC (3-4 May)
Zainab Al-Farabi - ex Stonewall (10 May)
Kirrin Medcalf - head of trans inclusion Stonewall (10 May)
Leslie Thomas - barrister at GCC (13 May)
Sanjay Sood Smith - Stonewall (16 May)
Shaan Knan - LGBT consortium - on STAG (16 May)
Rajiv Menon - joint head of chambers (16-17 May)
Maya Sikand - barrister at GCC (17-18 May)
Mia Hakl-Law - HR senior for GCC (18 May)
Judy Khan - barrister at GCC (19-20 May)
Charlie Tennent - clerk at GCC (20 May)
Luke Harvey - clerk at GCC (20 May)
Louise Hooper - Barrister at GCC (20 May)
David Renton - barrister at GCC (20 May, 25 May)
Marc Willers - Barrister at GCC (23 May)
Stephen Clark - Barrister at GCC (23 May)
Liz Davies - Barrister at GCC (23 May)
Cathryn McGahey - Bar Council Ethics Committee's VC (24 May)
Tom Wainwright - Barrister at GCC (24 May)
Colin Cook - Head clerk at GCC (24 May)
David de Menezes - GCC, Head of Marketing (25 May)
Kathryn Cronin - barrister at GCC (25 May)
Michelle Brewer - barrister at GCC at time, now left and a judge (26 May)
Stephanie Harrison - joint head of chambers (26 May)
Closing arguments for AB, GCC, and SW (20 June)

Allison Bailey's

Witness Statement

allisonbailey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Witness-Statement-of-Allison-Bailey.pdf

Supplementary Statement

allisonbailey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/C-Supplementary-Witness-Statement.pdf

Closing Statement

allisonbailey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CLOSING-SUBMISSIONS-FINAL.pdf

Best of luck Allison, you wonderful woman.

Fingers crossed for Allison.
Totally off topic, I have been reading Dickens' 'Great Expectations' for the first time and was surprised to see 'Garden Court Chambers' is mentioned.

So it's not a video thing to watch, just a statement to read?

I completely agree. To have the arguments of both sides tested in court and appraised will have been worth it, not to mention exposing some of the shady practices being used to silence women.

Best of luck Allison, no matter what happens we're behind you.

I'm very proud to have contributed, even in a small way, to a case that exposed the shitshow that is Stonewall.

Totally agree. Will be thinking of you Allison.

Just saw Alison’s email. Was not expecting this so soon and I hope it’s good news. Good luck Allison, and thank you for doing this for all of us,

One day, I also hope I can publicly support Allison, Maya, Kiera and the other Sheros without fearing for my own job.

Best of luck, Allison. You are an inspiration and whatever happens, I'm proud to have contributed. It was worth every single penny to have the legal spotlight shone on Stonewall. Crossing everything for a good outcome for you.

Fingers crossed. The amount of daylight the case has brought means it was worth bringing whatever the result but I hope Allison gets a good outcome.

Absolutely this, I really hope it's good news for Alison tomorrow 🙏

Blimey, I've got a really busy day tomorrow- big family occasion. I'll be sneaking off to check my phone...

#thankyouallisonbailey currently trending on Twitter.

And whatever happens, whatever the judgement, Allison's bravery taking this forward is awe inspiring. Thank you Allison.

This! Fingers and toes firmly crossed.

Good luck, Allison! You're an amazing woman.💐

I’m just remembering that QC they called in from the Ethics Board to sit in judgment in AB who sat there in cold blood and said lesbians are like whites practising South African apartheid.

Win or lose, Allison's case has been enormously beneficial.

It's shown up stonewall for their ideologically skewed and dangerous motivations and her chambers for the same, as well as any old sexist bandwagon jumper if it makes them money. Not the ethical and virtuous bunch they try to portray.

Any time they have to account for their behaviour and beliefs in public, more and more people are noticing how it involves a serious departure from reality, driven by self serving and blatant sexism.

The judgment could easily be multi layered. But the glaring sunlight is always blindingly straightforward.

Do we know what time the judgement will be released?

12ish.

Noon I think

Thanks folks.

I'm going to have no fingernails left.

I so hope that the result is favourable. Is the rapidity of the judgement any indication as to the result? Maya's took forever...

@Pyjamagame

I can’t see it as a particularly positive development. It might be that they don’t believe the behaviours that led to the detriments are a natural consequence of her protected beliefs. In the Forstater case she did nothing but privately state her beliefs. In this case, the resistance to AB’s presence in Chambers came from founding the LGBA, which is related to but not a natural consequence of her beliefs.

I don’t know, it’s complicated.

Was just checking the timeline from Ickky’s OP.

“The Tribunal started on 25th April, witness testimony concluded on the 26th May. Closing arguments for council was on the 20th June.”

This is too quick.

Unless the judge wrote a skeleton judgment between the May and June dates I suppose? Is that even allowed?

But I agree the funder was very well worth it, and the judgement will be another useful road map for future cases, whichever way the elements of this swing.

I agree it's so, so fast.

However, I think this issue is so much in the National Interest I guess JG saw fit to devote all of her time and effort to get it out ASAP.

I wonder how long the document will be? Maya's was what? 84 pages? This one is going to be much, much longer.

Keeping everything crossed for Allison.

I don't think this case is as clear cut as Maya's though. There was a lot of evidence in the bundle for Maya's case that the detriment she claimed (loss of employment contract) was because CGD discriminated against her because of her beliefs. CGD witnesses then doubled down on this in court by insisting that the decision was because of the offensive expression of her beliefs but being unable to state any way she could have stated her belief without being offensive.

For Allison, the chain of evidence is less clear. There is plenty of evidence that Stonewall pressured GCC to distance themselves from her and that she was treated extremely shoddily, particularly in the public "investigation" of spurious complaints against her. However there is almost nothing linking this to her detriment (loss of income because she was not given cases). GCC also had a plausible alternative explanation for her loss of income (working in a very specialised area and few relevant cases coming in during that period). Whilst I think she is likely to win some of her claims (relating to the lack of due process / policy in publicly announcing that she was under investigation), I don't think she had enough evidence to prove that her loss of income was directly caused by discrimination against her protected belief.