Fired barrister claims QC took revenge for splinter story
A QC who spent £75 of chambers funds on treatment for a splinter suffered by his daughter “hounded” a colleague in revenge when she leaked the story to a legal blog, a tribunal has heard.
Karen Gillard, barrister and deputy treasurer at Goldsmith Chambers, claims she was sacked after she passed the story about Anthony Metzer QC to the website Legal Cheek.
She told the employment tribunal that Mr Metzer employed family members and their friends. She said the interns, known within the firm as “Metzer’s interns”, were paid more than other pupils at £250 per week.
Miss Gillard, who is gay, also claims discrimination by way of sexual orientation, but the chambers say she was sacked after complaints of bullying and intimidating behaviour towards staff. After her dismissal, Adam Gersch, treasurer of the firm, called police and claimed she had harassed him by sending colleagues emails accusing him of fraud and financial impropriety.
The tribunal heard staff were unhappy after Mr Metzer used chambers funds to get his daughter medical treatment for a splinter she sustained while an intern at the firm in January 2016.
Miss Gillard, 44, also claimed she challenged Mr Metzer over his “misuse” of a client fund of Argent law firm, which merged with Goldsmith in May 2014.
She was suspended and members of the chamber’s management committee accused her of “bribery” at a meeting in December 2016, the tribunal heard.
Dr Anton Van Dellen, Chamber Secretary, admitted that a group of barristers at the firm appeared like a “gang” by discussing reporting Miss Gillard to police in February 2017.
“Whilst I had offered to resign and go ‘quietly’, sadly the Respondents have humiliated and hounded me,” Miss Gillard said.
“The victimisation and bullying have been all the more vicious to me because I am an openly gay woman.”
The hearing continues.