Law firm partner secures right to sue in UK Supreme Court decision

A recent decision by the UK Supreme Court has secured a former law firm partner the right to seek legal action for her alleged improper firing under the nation's whistleblower law. The UK Supreme Court has now extended legal whistleblower protections to partners in law and accounting firms, Bloomberg said.

Supreme Court Judge Brenda Hale said in London, "One can effectively be one's own boss and still be a 'worker.' (The rules covering whistle-blowing may be) particularly applicable to businesses and professions operating within the tightly regulated fields of financial and legal services."

The Supreme Court decision was spurred by a lawsuit filed by attorney Krista Bates Van Winkelhof from law firm Clyde & Co. LLP. Van Winkelhof had reported in 2010 that an African lawyer who had been working in association with the law firm was involved in money laundering and bribery. Van Winkelhof was later suspended, and then expelled from the law partnership in 2011. Van Winkelhof filed a lawsuit against the law firm, citing that she was improperly removed from the partnership and that she had faced discrimination at the firm because she was pregnant at that time.

Referring to its former partner's allegations, Clyde & Co said in a statement, "We strongly deny Ms. Bates Van Winkelhof's still untested allegations. We contend the process of her removal from the partnership was set in place before her pregnancy was known, and before her disclosures."

The recent UK Supreme Court decision did not speak about validity of Van Winkelhof's case however. Bloomberg said that a specialist employment tribunal will be making the decision on whether the plaintiff is entitled to damages for unfair treatment at the law firm.

Nonetheless, Van Winkelhof's lawyer Joanna Blackburn stressed the importance of the UK Supreme Court decision. She said, "This case was about ensuring that lawyers, accountants, hedge-fund managers and a host of other professionals are protected against dismissal if they blow the whistle. High-profile collapses like Enron and Arthur Andersen demonstrate why we need partners to speak out if they spot wrongdoing."

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UK Supreme Court, Clyde & Co. LLP, Krista Bates Van Winkelhof whistleblower protection suit

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