Thomas Croxford

High Court employment experience includes injunctive relief in relation to confidentiality and competition problems and wrongful dismissal claims. Particular experience of obtaining injunctive relief in relation to miscreant employees in relation to misappropriation of confidential or other corporate information and breaches of covenants or fiduciary duties.

Employment Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal experience in a broad range of cases concerning unfair dismissal, redundancy, TUPE and domestic and European discrimination law, acting for Applicants and Respondents in both the private sector and the public sector.

Able to combine the commercial and employment experience to provide assistance in relation to, for example, the litigation problems created by the dismissal of shareholder directors, the removal of partners and the problems raised by the termination of consultancy contracts in the financial services industry.

Tom has particular expertise in the following areas:

Covenants and Confidentiality:

• Gordon Ramsay v Chris Hutcheson & others
  Acting for Gordon Ramsay (together with Pushpinder Saini QC) in a case concerning the hacking of Gordon Ramsay’s personal and commercial communications by his father-in-law.
• BGC Brokers v Garry Johnson & others (2010)
  Concerning whether brokers’ covenants ceased to have effect either as a result of constructive dismissal or the effect of TUPE. 
• MSCI v Axioma (2011)
  Acting for a vendor of business software in relation to the alleged misappropriation and misuse of source code by former employees.
• Phoenix Partners Group LLP v Asoyag [2010] IRLR 594
  Concerning whether a post termination restraint on competition is enforceable of the departing employee has not been replaced such that the ex-employer no longer engages in the same trade.
• RDF Media v Clements [2008] IRLR 207
  Acted for RDF Media in very high profile claim against vendor shareholder (Kirsty Wark’s husband).
• Sought, obtained and resisted delivery up of confidential information, database right infringement, springboard, fiduciary duty and covenant-based injunctions.

Whistleblowing:

• Lindberg v MF Global (2011)
  Acted for the successful respondent in a whistleblowing claim brought by an analyst with allegations of fraud being made in relation to the calculation of commissions. 
• Acting for and against a variety of investment banks, hedge funds, private equity houses, law firms and other City companies in relation to a number of multi-million pound whistleblowing claims.
• Acted for the Claimant in what has been asserted by the Respondent’s leading counsel to be the highest value claim ever brought before an employment tribunal

TUPE:

• BGC Brokers v Garry Johnson & others (2010)
  Concerning whether brokers’ covenants ceased to have effect either as a result of constructive dismissal or the effect of TUPE. 
• Whitney v Monster [2010] EWHC 1298, [2011] Pens LR 1
  Engaged in an 8 day trial and then in the Court of Appeal considering, amongst other things, whether an alleged contractual entitlement to a sum reflecting the difference between a final salary and a defined contribution pension was capable of transferring under TUPE.
• Contentious and non-contentious advice and representation in relation to every form of TUPE-related problem.

Discrimination and Equal Pay:

• Da'Bell v NSPCC [2010] IRLR 19
  Acting pro bono for the claimant in a case that considered the re-rating of awards for injury to feelings.
• Seldon v Clarkson Wright & Jakes [2011] ICR 60, [2010] IRLR 865, [2009] 176, 267 (ET, EAT, CA)
  Acting for a law firm in the first substantial case seeking to justify a mandatory retirement age for a partnership. Appeal to the Supreme Court to be heard in January 2012.
• Acting for the claimant in a substantial claim brought against a US law firm by a passed-over senior associate claiming discrimination on grounds of nationality and by reason of pregnancy.
• Acting for a variety of respondent law firms in a series of cases related to the dismissal of partners and senior associates on grounds of sex, pregnancy, disability and age.
• Particular experience and expertise acting for Claimants in very high value discrimination claims against City banks and other institutions.
• Substantial experience acting for and against law firms and other professional partnerships in relation to such claims
• Attias v Altera
  Successful defence of an age discrimination claim against a multinational brought by a Vice President.

Miscellaneous:

• Gregory Morgan Plumbly v Beatthatquote.com Ltd [2009] EWHC 321 (QB)
  Successfully represented the Claimant in a case concerning a refusal to allot shares when the Claimant exercised his right under a share option agreement.
• Force One Utilities v Hatfield [2009] IRLR 45
  Acted pro bono for an intimidated claimant seeking to uphold a strike out of the defence to an employment tribunal claim.

Covenants and Confidentiality:

• Richmond Medical Agency v Bassom [2004] EWHC 1252 (QB)
• Hewson v Duke of Westminster (2002)

Whistleblowing:

• Smith v Basildon Visionplus (2005) ET, EAT

TUPE:

• Camden PCT v Skittrall [2005] UKEAT 0078_05_1407
• McCarthy v Adare Pressicion & Williams Lea (2005)
• Solectron v Roper [2004] IRLR 4

Discrimination and Equal Pay:

• Edmund Nuttall Limited v Butterfield [2006] ICR 77
• Legal Services Commission v Patterson [2004] ICR 312, CA and [2003] IRLR 742, EAT
• Acting for the Law Society in its defence of further race and sex discrimination claims brought by Dr Kamlesh Bahl (2003)

Miscellaneous:

• Fulham FC v Tigana [2005] EWCA Civ 895 and [2004] EWHC 2585
• Sysdeco v Atkins [2004] ICR 1733
• Potter v RJ Temple plc, The Times, February 11 2004

Tom is involved with commercial and contractual disputes in a wide range of fields including directors’ duties, civil fraud, partnership, factoring and invoice discounting, FX trading, derivatives and other financial instruments and insurance. He has experience of directors' disqualification actions, section 459/994 petitions and insolvency proceedings.

Tom has particular expertise in the following areas:

Director’s and Fiduciary's duties:

• Gordon Ramsay v Chris Hutcheson & others
  Acting for Gordon Ramsay (together with Pushpinder Saini QC) in a case concerning the hacking of Gordon Ramsay’s personal and commercial communications by his father-in-law.
• MSCI v Axioma (2011)
  Acting for a vendor of business software in relation to the alleged misappropriation and misuse of source code by former employees.
• Rahimian v Tchenguiz (2011)
  Acting for the defendants in a claim for, amongst other things, commission alleged to have been earned in relation to certain property deals. 
• Ministry of Sound v Cook [2009] IRLR 838, CA
  Acted for Ministry of Sound in relation to the obligations of a departing director to give accurate information as to his competitive intentions.
• Gregory Morgan Plumbly v Beatthatquote.com Ltd [2009] EWHC 321 (QB)
  Acted for the successful claimant to enforce his rights to share options where the defence was that he had breached his fiduciary duties. 
• Acted in a large number of cases in which the claimant is a director and shareholder, thereby raising issues of contract, fiduciary duties, Companies Act obligations, unfair prejudice petitions and director’s disqualification.

Fraud and other injunctive relief:

Tom has acted on behalf of many of the leading factors and invoice-discounters and also many other banks, financial institutions and companies in relation to fraud and indemnity claims. These claims have involved numerous successful applications for Search Orders, Freezing Orders and other related interlocutory relief in the Chancery Division, Queen's Bench Division and the Commercial Court.

Substantial experience through court and advisory work in relation to all forms of injunctions commonly granted by domestic courts including Search Orders, Freezing Orders, Doorstep Disclosure Orders, ne exeat regno/Bayer v Winter relief and interim specific performance of contracts.

Recent applications include those for:

• Cyril Sweett Group plc v GlobalKnowhow
  A passing-off injunction against former employees passing themselves off as associated with their former employer.
• Gordon Ramsay v Chris Hutcheson & others
  Disk imaging orders obtained against a series of defendants in relation to computer hacking.
• MSCI v Axioma (2011)
  Disk imaging orders and evidence preservation orders obtained against person alleged to have misappropriated source code.
• Les Bordes v various (2011)
  Obtained a series of Norwich Pharmacal and other inunctions in relation to the advertising of a fictitious golf tournament. 
• G v Wikimedia Foundation Inc [2010] EMLR 14
  A Norwich Pharmacal against the foundation that runs Wikipedia.
• ODL Derivatives v McGrath (2010)
  Proprietary and non-proprietary domestic freezing orders. 
  Non-proprietary worldwide freezing order in a nine figure sum with an ancillary Bayer v Winter order (2010)
• Edsparr v JP Morgan (2009)
  An anti-suit injunction. 

Negligent Reference claims:

Cases include defending a series of multi-million pound commission and negligent reference claims on behalf of the Guardian Assurance Group.

Commercial work in the FSA-Regulated Sector:

Tom has particular experience undertaking commercial work in the context of the FSA-Regulated sector, combining his experience and knowledge of the role of the FSA with general commercial, fraud and fiduciary duty experience.

His experience in dealing with hedge funds (marketing, investment, redemption and valuation issues for long/short, long-only, fof, credit and quant funds), private equity houses (partnership issues, carried interest disputes) and investment and private banks (all forms of employment and remuneration disputes) is particularly significant.

Fraud and other injunctive relief:

• Maersk Air v Expeditors [2003] 1 Lloyds Reports 491

General Commercial:

• Gary Marlow v Exile Productions [2003] EWHC 2631
• Tom has acted for a number of musicians including the defence of a claim brought against Van Morrison arising out of the cancellation of a performance. 
• Christmas v Hampshire [1996] 2 AC 633, HL
• Brayshaw v Durham County Council
• Blue Circle v MoD [1999] 2 WLR 295, CA

Director’s and Fiduciary's duties:

• CMS Dolphin v Simonet [2001] 2 BCLC 704

Commercial work in the FSA-Regulated Sector:

Tom's experience in relation to professional negligence encompasses solicitors, accountants, surveyors, quantity surveyors and teachers.

Significant experience in relation to hedge fund-related disputes including professional negligence claims against the managers arising out of failures to act in accordance with risk control procedures.

Acted for SIB and SFA (as they then were) in relation to disciplinary cases. The work for SFA included drafting and advisory work, negotiations of settlements, appearances before the SFA disciplinary tribunal (as it then was) and the making of presentations to SFA's Enforcement Committee.

Tom has acted for Guardian Royal Exchange in relation to a number of substantial commission and negligent reference claims, all of which have involved issues relating to the proper construction of the Financial Services legislation and the regulatory rules thereunder.

General advisory work has included such matters as advising non-EU companies as to the investment advertisement rules in the UK.

VAT registration number:  627358129