Allison Bailey wins costs award against Garden Court Chambers

Doyle Clayton client, Allison Bailey, has won a significant costs award against Garden Court, the chambers at which she practised as a barrister for nearly twenty years.

In 2022, Miss Bailey won discrimination and victimisation claims against Garden Court based on her gender critical beliefs and was awarded injury to feelings compensation and aggravated damages. Her separate claim that LGBTQ charity Stonewall induced, caused or instructed the unlawful discrimination was unsuccessful.

The hearing in the case, which ran for 23 days, was marred by a dysfunctional bundle in which documents were not indexed, properly arranged, searchable or sequentially arranged. This substantially increased the time and costs for all sides.

Maximum costs awarded

Awarding her £20,000 – the maximum costs award available to a Tribunal without referring the matter on for further assessment litigation – the Tribunal said that Garden Court’s actions had been unreasonable, while acknowledging Doyle Clayton’s “stoic goodwill” during the process.

Garden Court also made a costs application against Miss Bailey, seeking recovery of a non-specified sum in the region of 50% of the £675,000 in costs they had incurred in defending the case. This application was dismissed in its entirety.

The case now proceeds to an EAT (Employment Appeal Tribunal) hearing, to hear Miss Bailey’s appeal against the rejection of her claims against Stonewall. No hearing date has yet been set.

A comment from Doyle Clayton

Peter Daly, a partner at Doyle Clayton, commented,

“We are extremely pleased that Allison has been able to recover a portion of the costs to which she was unreasonably put by Garden Court’s actions, and that this unreasonable conduct has been recognised in the judgment. This, on top of the damages and aggravated damages she was awarded last year, and the significant public scrutiny that her case has brought to bear on the discrimination visited upon gender critical women, is welcome vindication for her decision to pursue this litigation.

“We now look forward to the appeal against Stonewall and focus our attentions on that.”

Allison Bailey was represented by Peter Daly, and Doyle Clayton associate, Emily Battcock, instructing Ben Cooper KC.

Further information

Miss Bailey’s comments

Press Coverage

Daily Mail

The Telegraph

The Law Society Gazette