Doughty Street Chambers

Employment, Discrimination and Equality Law

Kate specialises in employment and discrimination law, and international and European human rights law.

Kate regularly appears in the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal. She has particular expertise in discrimination law and considerable experience of high value claims. Kate is ranked in the Legal 500.

Kate is currently instructed as junior counsel in a complex long running group litigation in the High Court.

Kate’s recent reported cases include Alipourbabaie v Dyson (2020), East London NHS Foundation Trust v O'Connor (2019) and Bowler v Chief Constable of Kent Police, where the Claimant was awarded damages, including aggravated damages, for claims of direct race discrimination and victimisation. She was junior counsel to Henrietta Hill QC in respect of the first appeal (Chief Constable of Kent Constabulary v Mr A Bowler Appeal No. UKEAT/0214/16/RN), and sole counsel for the Claimant for the second appeal, in which the Chief Constable was unsuccessful (Chief Constable of Kent Constabulary v Mr A Bowler Appeal No. UKEAT/0308/17/LA).

Kate has a particular interest in claims of perceived disability discrimination, having represented one of the first claimants to succeed with this type of claim: Fortt v Chief Constable of South Wales Police.

Kate was led by Edward Fitzgerald QC in Mangouras v Kingdom of Spain before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. The application challenged the decision of the Spanish Government to set a bail security at 3 million Euros as a breach of Article 5(3) of the European Convention. Kate and Edward Fitzgerald QC continue to represent Mr Mangouras regarding his rights to a fair trial.

Kate was junior counsel in the case of M.S. v United Kingdom (Application no. 24527/08), where the European Court of Human Rights unanimously held that the detention of a mentally ill man in a police cell for over three days violated his rights under Article 3.

After joining Doughty Street, Kate was awarded a Pegasus Scholarship by the Inns of Court. She worked for a three months period at the National Security Project and Human Rights Department of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York.

Employment Lawyers Association

LLB MA International Peace and Security, Middle Temple Diplock Scholar Pegasus Scholar