Law grad claims she was unfairly denied remote assessment
An aspiring lawyer has been given the go-ahead to pursue legal action against Clyde & Co over alleged discrimination after being rejected for a training contract, though parts of her claim have been struck out by a judge.
The City law firm initially tried to block Anne Epelle’s claim, arguing that she had waited too long to bring it.
However, employment Judge Oliver Segal found that the aspiring lawyer — who is representing herself — had acted on information that only came to light at a later stage, making the case “not entirely straightforward”.
According to Law360 (£), Epelle studied for a UK law degree while living in Nigeria and applied for training contracts at the firm’s offices in Bristol and Hamburg, Germany.
Epelle — who studied engineering at Leeds University before going on to complete a conversion course and LPC at The University of Law — says that after being rejected by the firm, she later discovered she “had passed the initial sifting process” and should have been offered a remote assessment — but wasn’t.
Epelle alleges that Clyde & Co discriminated against her by requiring her to take an in-person assessment, which she says was impractical given that she was around 3,000 miles away in Nigeria. She says she is suing “because this firm advertised on its website that conducts virtual assessment centres” and accused the law firm of discriminating against her based on her race, nationality and visa status.
The firm’s barrister argued at the hearing that the Bristol training contract differed from others because it required an in-person assessment, according to the report.
Although Epelle is allowed to pursue her claim, Judge Segal rejected her attempt to add senior members of Clydes — including partners — to the legal action, finding no evidence that they were involved in any of the decisions made.
Separate claims of direct discrimination and harassment against members of the firm’s recruitment team were struck out.
The judge’s decision to allow the aspiring lawyer to pursue some of her claims against the firm followed a hearing back in April, where an appeals tribunal overturned a lower tribunal’s ruling that her claims fell outside its jurisdiction.
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows Clydes recruits over 70 UK trainees each year on starting salary of between £24,000 and £47,000 depending on location.
The firm declined to comment.
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