Gary Morton
Gary has extensive experience of representing employers and workers in the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Gary has been on the Commission for Racial Equality's Panel of Advocates (B category) from 18 June 2002 and on the Equal Opportunities Commission's Panel of Barristers from 23 May 2003.
Gary is accredited by the College of Law for direct access to the Bar and is a Mediator trained by the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service and accredited by the Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations from 2 August 2006. He is on the Bar Council's list of Mediators.
Until 2007 Gary was an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of Economic and Management Sciences at Keele University where he was responsible for all course preparation and lectured to mature part-time students on the MA in industrial relations and employment law i.e. individual, collective and European Union employment law.
From 1999 until December 2004 Gary trained the full-time officers and lay officials of the Amicus-MSF (Manufacturing Science and Finance) trade union (now Unite) in individual, collective and discrimination employment law and the handling of Employment Tribunals.
Gary is a past trainer in employment law of trade union staff employed by National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, now part of the University & College Union, and the Association of Magisterial Officers, now part of the Professional Commerce and Services trade union.
For more than a decade until 2007 Gary was a regular speaker at the Autumn Advanced School of the General Federation of Trade Unions.
Until the Spring of 2001 Gary was an occasional employment law consultant to the Specialist Support Unit of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux.
Gary delivered the employment law option for the College of Law (London) Bar Vocational Course during the 1997-98 and 1998-99 academic sessions.
Gary was called to the Bar in November 1993 having passed the Bar Vocational Course. In 1992 he was awarded a postgraduate Diploma in Law by Middlesex University.
Gary was a National Organiser for the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) from 1976 to 1991. He was a part-time lecturer in economics at Brunel University in 1976 and employed by the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS now part of Unite) from 1973-76. Prior to that he was a printer (copyholder) at the Daily Mail between 1970-71.
Gary obtained an MA in industrial relations from Warwick University in 1973. He graduated in 1969 with a BSc (Econ) 2.2 London University external degree having attended Kingston College of Technology (Surrey) and Bristol College of Commerce.
Gary attended University College School, Hampstead, London, from 1957-64. He obtained three "A" levels (B, B and E) and seven "O" levels.
Professional Memberships & Activity
Gary is a member, and regularly attends meetings, of the Industrial Law Society. He is a member of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA) and has participated in BUIRA conferences and meetings. He is a member of the Employment Law Bar Association and the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA).
Gary was a member of the ELA working party which was consulted by the Government in August 2008 over the proposed new ACAS code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. Gary prepared a paper for the working party in which he advocated a return to the status quo that existed prior to the introduction of the Employment Act 2002 statutory procedures, i.e. a return to the September 2000 ACAS code.
Reported Cases
Over many years Gary has represented Appellants in the Employment Appeal Tribunal under the Employment Law Appeal Advice Scheme (ELAAS) and in appeals that are supported by the Bar Pro Bono Unit.
Jilley v. Birmingham and Solihull Mental NHS Trust [2008] ICR Part 2, (Points of interest in the Employment Appeal Tribunal not calling for a full report in ICR). (21 November 2007) UKEAT/155/07. This case was mentioned in Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law, Bulletin No.358, in May 2008 and there is a case report in the ELA Briefing, volume 15, number 6, July 2008. Gary assisted the Appellant at the preliminary hearing under ELAAS. At the full hearing he represented her under the Bar Pro Bono Unit (BPBU) scheme and her appeal was successful. The Employment Tribunal's £127,000 costs award was remitted to the same Birmingham Employment Tribunal to ascertain her ability to pay.
Bedfordshire County Council v. Mr L G Eaton, unreported (23 February 2006) UKEAT/0650/05/DZM, the inter-partes hearing is published on the EAT web-site. Gary represented Mr Eaton in the ET successfully resisting the Council's appeal against the judgment of the Employment Tribunal that he had been unfairly dismissed.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council v. Ms a Strutt, unreported (11 November 2005) UKEAT/482/05/DZM & UKEAT/0592/05/DZM, the inter-partes hearing is on the EAT web-site. Gary represented Mrs Strutt in the ET and in successfully resisting the Council's appeal against the judgment of the Employment Tribunal that she had been unfairly dismissed.
Securicor Custodial Services v. (1) Miss Williams (2) Miss Whitehorn, unreported (15 November 2002) EAT/0042/02, the inter-partes hearing is published on the EAT web-site. Gary represented Ms Williams, a black employee dismissed by Securicor. Her claim was successful in the ET. The EAT allowed an appeal by Securicor against the finding by the Employment Tribunal that Securicor had discriminated against Ms Williams on the grounds of her race.
Ms Erza-Essien v. (1) Greenwich Leisure Ltd (2) Merton Leisure Ltd (ET Case No: 2301102/01 - decision 23 February 2001) where Gary represented the unsuccessful Respondent (GLL) in a race and sex discrimination case. The case report is at pages 31/2 of the Equal Opportunities Review, No. 113, January 2003. An appeal was successful at an EAT preliminary hearing and Ms Erza-Essien's complaint was compromised prior to the full hearing of the appeal.
Great North Eastern Railway Ltd v. Mr D Stock, unreported (24 July 2002) EAT/0211/01, the inter-partes hearing is on the EAT web-site. Gary represented Mr Stock, the Claimant in the ET. The EAT allowed GNER's appeal against the finding that Mr Stock had been unfairly dismissed and remitted the matter to a fresh ET which decided that he had been fairly dismissed.
Ms Joy Leader v. London Borough of Brent, unreported (11 March 2002) EAT/329/01, the inter-partes hearing is published on the EAT web-site. Gary represented Ms Leader and her colleagues at the EAT preliminary hearing under ELAAS and at the full hearing under the BPBU scheme where they lost their appeal that they had been dismissed for "whistle-blowing".
Ms Farley v. The Prison Service, unreported (6 March 2002) EAT/0359/01, the inter-partes hearing is published on the EAT web-site. Gary represented Ms Farley in her unsuccessful appeal against the decision that she had not been subject to unlawful discrimination contrary to section 4(2) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Ms C Samuel v. London Borough of Lewisham (28 January 2002) EAT 1015/00, the inter-partes hearing is published on the EAT web-site. Gary represented the relatively unsuccessful Appellant Ms Samuel who the ET found was wrongfully, but not unfairly, dismissed. The case is mentioned in the Law Society's Employment Handbook in the chapter entitled "Wrongful dismissal".
Mr B Crofton v. Mr S Yeboah, unreported (16 May 2001) EAT/475/00, 1352/98, 1353/98, 1354/98 & 1356/98. The inter-partes hearing is published on the EAT web-site. Gary represented Mr Crofton, the Appellant, under the BPBU scheme on the s.33(1) RRA 1976 point as to whether he had knowingly aided an act of discrimination. His appeal was successful before the EAT but the Court of Appeal (where Gary was not involved) restored the decision of the ET.
Mr O'Connell v. Essex County and Fire & Rescue Service (2 July 2001) EAT/1334/99. The inter partes hearing is published on the EAT web-site and reported in Personnel Today's case round-up on 31 July 2001. Gary represented Mr O'Connell, the successful Appellant, at the EAT preliminary hearing. The EAT inter partes hearing allowed the appeal and remitted Mr O'Connell's complaint of unfair dismissal to a fresh ET.
Mr N W Turner v. London Borough of Havering [2001] ICR Part 6, (Points of interest in the Employment Appeal Tribunal not calling for a full report in ICR). (23 November 2000) EAT/1066/99. Gary represented the Appellant Mr Turner at the EAT preliminary hearing under ELAAS and at the inter-partes hearing under the BPBU scheme where the appeal failed. This case is on the EAT web-site.
Mrs A O Adegbite v. (1) Mrs J Demirsoz (2) Commissioners of the Inland Revenue, unreported (14 November 2000) EAT/565/99. Gary represented Mrs Adegbite the unsuccessful Appellant. This case is on the EAT web-site.
Mrs J K MacMullen v. Dr M J Cooke t/a The Netherton Nursing Home, unreported (5 October 2000) EAT/1409/98. Gary represented Mrs McMullen, the Appellant, under the ELAAS at the PH/D. This case is published on the EAT web-site.
Theodosopoulou v. Bank of Cyprus (London) Ltd, unreported (31 January 2000) EAT/567/99. This case was mentioned in Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law, Bulletin No.260, in March 2000. Gary appeared on behalf of the unsuccessful Appellant, Ms Theodosopoulou.
Mr Y Yassine v. Bressingham Holdings t/a Eagle Crest Ltd, unreported (18 June 1999) EAT/900/98. Gary appeared for the successful Appellant. This case is published on the EAT web-site.
Mensah v. East Hertfordshire NHS Trust [1998] IRLR 531, CA, and (1998) Times, 20 July, CA. Gary appeared for Mrs Mensah in the Employment Appeal Tribunal where she was successful in her appeal. The Trust succeeded in their appeal to the Court of Appeal. This case was mentioned in Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law, Bulletin No.243, in October 1998; the Sweet & Maxwell Employment Law Briefing, page 163, 1999; IDS Brief 625, November 1998; and the TUC's Employment Tribunals Newsletter, October 1998.
Teachers Pension Agency v. Hill (20 July 1998) Times Law Reports, and [1999] ICR 435, ChD. Gary appeared for Mrs Hill. The TPA were successful in their challenge to a decision of the Pensions Ombudsman.
Smallwood v. Regional Railways North East [1998] ICR Part 6 (Points of interest in the Employment Appeal Tribunal not calling for a full report in ICR). Gary appeared for the unsuccessful Appellant, Mr Smallwood.
Roberts v. (1) Charge Crest Ltd (2) Harris Logistics, unreported (24 April 1998) EAT/536/98. This case was mentioned in Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law, Bulletin No.240, in July 1998. Gary appeared for the successful Appellant, Ms Roberts.
Oxford County Newspapers & another v. McIntyre and Shipton, 27 July 1986, EAT/95/86, which was mentioned in the IDS Brief 337 in November 1986. As a union organiser Gary successfully represented two NUJ lay officials who had been denied time off to attend a meeting of the NUJ's Provincial Newspaper Industrial Council. The employers' appeal to the EAT was unsuccessful.
Mentioned Employment Tribunal Cases
Mr L G Dickinson v. Arriva Trains Northern Limited, Labour Research June 2003. Gary represented the successful Applicant in his claim that the Respondent had subjected him to a detriment for the purpose of preventing and penalising him from taking part in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time.
Readman v. The Post Office, IDS Brief 640, July 1999. Gary appeared for the relatively unsuccessful Applicant, a postal worker with epilepsy.
Publications
"The liberty to organise in Britain". International Union Rights, Volume 16, Issue 2, 2009.
The Institute of Employment Rights held a conference on 5 November 2008 called "Neoliberalism and Labour Law: challenging the concepts". Gary delivered a paper entitled "Neoliberalism and New Labour's labour laws: retrospect and prospects". This paper can be accessed at http://www.ier.org.uk/node/312.
Paul Smith and Gary are the authors of a chapter entitled "New Labour's neoliberal legal project to subordinate trade unions". It appears in a book called "Trade unions in a neo-liberal world: British trade unions under New Labour" which was published in 2009 by Routledge.
"Nine years of New Labour: neo-liberalism and workers' rights". Co-authored with Paul Smith, Senior Lecturer in the School of Economic and Management Sciences, Keele University. The British Journal of Industrial Relations (BJIR), September 2006.
Gary delivered a workshop paper at the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA) annual conference in July 2004 entitled "The statutory recognition procedure: the origins of Schedule 1 of the Employment Relations Act 1999."
Gary wrote an article entitled "Some notes on the Employment Bill 2001 parts 2 & 3: tribunal reform and dispute resolution" which was published in the General Federation of Trade Unions Federation News, Volume 52, Number 2, Autumn 2002,
Gary delivered a workshop paper at the BUIRA annual conference in July 2002 entitled "Statutory recognition and managerial prerogative".
Gary delivered a paper called "Tribunal changes - the next steps" at the Institute of Employment Rights conference on the Human Rights Act 1998 which was held on 15 October 2001.
"The Conservative Government's reform of employment law, 1979-97: "Stepping Stones" and the "New Right" agenda". Co-authored with Paul Smith. Historical Studies in Industrial Relations, Autumn 2001.
Gary wrote for UNIONS Today, July 2001, in the Law at Work column on "The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2001".
Gary delivered a paper at the Socio-Legal Studies Association annual conference in April 2001 which was called "Rights to representation compared and contrasted - the Industrial Relations Act 1971 and the Industrial Relations Code of Practice 1972 - and - the Employment Rights Act 1999 and the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary Procedures September 2000."
"New Labour's reform of Britain's employment law: the Devil is not only in the detail but in the values and policy too". Co-authored with Paul Smith. BJIR, March 2001.
"Union Exclusion - Next Steps", co-authored with Paul Smith, Keele University. The Industrial Relations Journal, March 1994.
"Union exclusion and the decollectivisation of industrial relations in contemporary Britain" co-authored with Paul Smith. BJIR, March 1993.
"New Technology in the Provincial Newspaper Sector: A comment" co-authored with Paul Smith. BJIR, March 1992.
"A change of heart: Union exclusion in the provincial newspaper sector" co-authored with Paul Smith. Work, Employment and Society, Spring 1990.
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