Doyle Clayton successfully defends Tribunal claim brought by a law firm equity partner for “wages”
Doyle Clayton has been successful in defending a wage deduction claim brought against law firm Howard Kennedy, by a former equity partner.
The Employment Tribunal dismissed the claim alleging that the former equity partner suffered an unauthorised deduction of wages. It found on the facts that the Claimant had been paid in line with his agreement with the firm and rejected his claims to be entitled to a greater equity points allocation, and also found that a share of profits for an equity partner was not ‘wages’ for the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and, therefore, the former partner did not have jurisdiction to bring an unlawful deduction from wages claim in the Employment Tribunal. This is understood to be the only judicial determination on this particular issue.
A link to the full judgment, can be found here: Townsend v Howard Kennedy J 200924.
Peter De Maria and Robert Maddox instructed Gavin Mansfield KC and Alex Francis of Littleton Chambers to act on behalf of Howard Kennedy LLP.
This case has attracted significant coverage in the legal press :
- Howard Kennedy triumphs in wage clash with former equity partner - The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs
- Employment tribunal dismisses underpayment claim by former equity partner at City firm Howard Kennedy | Law Gazette
- https://iclg.com/news/21742-ex-law-firm-partner-stumbles-at-tribunal
- https://www.law360.com/articles/1891838/howard-kennedy-llp-ex-partner-can-t-claim-176k
Peter De Maria
Peter is the firm’s Senior Partner. He specialises in all areas of employment law acting for both employers and employees. He has particular expertise in advising on the enforcement of restrictive covenants, team moves and bonus claims in the High Court.
- Senior Partner & Head of City Office
- T: +44 (0)20 7778 7221
- Email me
Robert Maddox
Robert is an employment law senior associate and advises on a wide variety of employment matters for both employers and employees.
- Senior Associate
- T: +44 (0)20 7778 7222
- Email me
Posted by Peter De Maria
Posted by Robert Maddox
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