Velma Eyre

Velma advises on and conducts complex employment litigation, particularly discrimination and equality claims involving significant financial, reputational, and regulatory risk. 

• Successfully resolved a disability discrimination and personal injury claim at mediation for a large retail client, brought by the widow of a former employee. 
• Defended High Court breach of contract and negligence claims following an insurer’s refusal to pay under a Group Income Protection policy, including engagement with the Financial Ombudsman Service. 
• Defended a three-week whistleblowing claim which involved sensitive internal issues, 15 witnesses, and intense media interest for a well-known university. 

Velma has a strong advisory practice, supporting organisations and individuals through sensitive and complex employment issues. 

• Advised a university on a highly sensitive disciplinary process involving a law professor, whistleblowing claims, grievances, appeals, and multiple staff complaints. 
• Advising on long-running and complex matters involving mental health, including schizophrenia. 
• Drafting and advising on workplace policies and implementation including sexual harassment, neurodiversity, flexible working, menopause, and fertility treatment. 
• Providing ongoing advisory support to HR professionals and in-house legal teams on grievances, disciplinaries, performance management, long-term sickness absence and terminations. 
• Advising on family and maternity rights, data protection, and restrictive covenant enforcement. 

Velma has advised extensively on all non-contentious aspects of employment law including corporate transactions, outsourcing projects (at tender, first–generation and retender stage), and on TUPE transfers. 

• Advised a UK retail bank on a restructuring programme, and supervised a team of lawyers in respect of the settlement agreements.  
• Drafted and negotiated the terms of a particularly complex outsourcing agreement for a major retailer which involved different subsidiary companies and arguments over whether TUPE applied. 
• Project-managed a cross-jurisdictional redundancy situation, working with lawyers in different jurisdictions. 

Velma has acted on behalf of supermarkets, hotels, and national retail chains on their employment matters, providing advisory support, Tribunal representation, and strategic input. 

• Achieved resolution at mediation for a large retail client in a high-value disability discrimination claim with overlapping personal injury litigation. 
• Advised on large-scale people-change projects affecting terms and conditions, including strategy and risk identification for a large hotel chain. 
• Acted for a major supermarket as a senior member of a team defending a high-profile equal pay claim, coordinating workstreams with external firms to maintain a consistent litigation strategy across a very large claimant cohort. 
• Drafted and negotiated complex commercial and employment documentation linked to operations (including outsourcing/TUPE analysis and contracts) for a furniture chain. 
• Advising on day-to-day employee relations issues (grievance/disciplinary, long-term sickness, performance, terminations) and drafting settlement agreements, contracts, and handbooks for a high-street hairdressing chain. 
• Carried out an audit of pharmaceutical contracts used by a large supermarket chain and advising on how those terms are likely to be impacted by the changes to be made to the IR35 legislation (off-payroll working) and drafting a strategy to minimise any potential risks associated with those changes. 

Velma has acted for many major UK banks, insurance, and energy and utility companies covering all aspects of employment law. 

• Acted on behalf of a number of banks in respect of their tribunal cases and litigation, as well as providing day-to-day advice and working on larger redundancy and restructuring projects.  
• Assisted a bank on GPG reporting, including advising on scope, methodology, analysis, and communication plans. 
• Dealt with the Financial Ombudsman Service and defended a High Court claim for breach of contract and negligence brought by an employee following the decision by an insurance provider to decline income protection under a group income protection insurance policy. 
• Worked with a tax and payroll advisory team in respect of a national minimum wage audit following an HMRC investigation into a potential NMW breach within a large energy services company. Role involved conducting a NMW review, presenting the findings, and advising on a response to HMRC.  
• Delivered audits/reviews of whistleblowing, grievance, and disciplinary frameworks for a regulated client in the energy sector. 

Velma has acted on behalf of many universities as well as for NHS Foundations Trusts on a broad range of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters. 

• Provided strategic input for a university client on complex internal processes involving disciplinary action, whistleblowing, grievances, and appeals, including managing multiple related grievances.  
• Sat on the disciplinary appeal panel as legal adviser to a university panel in dismissal proceedings for a medical doctor on an honorary contract.  
• Defended a high-profile whistleblowing claim for a well-known university with sensitivity to reputational and media risk. 
• Secondment as sole in-house employment lawyer to an NHS Foundation Trust which involved handling day-to-day advisory work, reviewing drivers of tribunal claims, and developing a strategy to reduce claims through improved approach/policies. 
• Worked on behalf of a leading education legal charity advising on disability discrimination claims in the education sector. 

Member of the Employment Lawyer Association (ELA)