Anya Palmer

Employment.

Anya acts for both claimants and respondents, but recently she has developed a particular following with firms who act mainly for respondents including Bevan Brittan, Beachcroft, Field Fisher Waterhouse, Halliwells and Osborne Clarke. In the last 12 months, Anya has been in the Court of Appeal twice, in London Ambulance Service NHS Trust v Small (unfair dismissal) acting for the NHS Trust, and in Gibson v Sheffield (equal pay) acting for the claimants. She has also appeared in the EAT on numerous occasions, with a notable case involving agency workers and sham contracts (Tilsom v Alstom). Cases for Bevan Brittan included successfully defending NHS Trusts and a number of cases for Zurich; when the Zurich contract moved to Beachcroft recently, Zurich specifically cited Anya as an example of counsel whom they would like to continue acting for them. For Field Fisher Waterhouse, Anya has successfully represented the Dept of Work and Pensions in a number of cases. For Osborne Clarke she has successfully represented a variety of private sector clients in unfair dismissal/discrimination and equal pay claims. She also frequently acts for public sector clients (DWP, local authorities, NHS, police) for example this year she successfully defended the Metropolitan Police in a high profile case involving allegations of ‘apartheid’ practices among PCSOs in Belgravia (Saeed v Met). Anya has had several reported cases in recent years in both the IRLRs and the ICRs. Recent example of feedback from lay clients (DWP): ‘I am emailing you on behalf of everyone you represented at the ET. We are very grateful for your continuous support and encouragement. We appreciated you sharing your wisdom and knowledge with us. I am sure nobody could have done it any better than you. Despite you being very busy you kept us all sane, especially when our nerves were getting the better of us’. Significant work/case highlights over the past 12 months include: London Ambulance Service NHS Trust v Small; Gibson and others v Sheffield; Saeed v Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

University of East London (1989 BA Hons First Class); London Guildhall University (1997 CPE distinction).