Reading: Mock employment tribunal is sell-out for Blandy & Blandy

Blandy & Blandy LLP welcomed a record number of attendees to the firm’s annual mock employment tribunal, held at Reading’s Green Park Conference Centre this month.

Under a theme of ‘How Protected Are Your ‘Settlement Agreement’ Discussions?’ the firm’s employment law team, led by partner (and ‘judge’ for the day) Sue Dowling, staged a fictitious preliminary hearing, concerning the admissibility of what the company involved considered were confidential 'protected conversations'. The employee (who was suing the company for unfair dismissal) wished to refer to those protected conversations at the main hearing (to be listed at a later date) to bolster his claim against the company.

The four-hour event welcomed 120 HR professionals and business owners spanning a wide range of organisations and sectors. 100% of attendees rated the event as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, with guests describing it as “really helpful”, “very insightful”, “extremely enjoyable” and “enlightening.”

Sue Dowling said: “Many thanks to everyone who joined us at Green Park for this event, and for their questions which followed. As the ‘Judge’ found (having heard evidence from both sides) that the three conversations would all be admissible in evidence (at the main trial), the case demonstrated how important it is, not to enter into ‘confidential’ exit negotiations, without taking sufficient care. Our audience were clearly listening carefully to the evidence and took on board the complexities, as demonstrated by their voting (in favour of the employee and the admissibility of the evidence) at the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, in agreement with the judge.

"Our aim was to present a very pertinent topic in an enjoyable and engaging way, while providing a more general insight into how a tribunal hearing operates for those professionals with limited or no experience of the process.”