Mukhtiar is ranked in employment by Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500. His depth of knowledge of employment law, coupled with over twenty-five years of experience in employment relations, enables him to provide sound advice and practical solutions.

He has a particular interest in whistleblowing and discrimination disputes. He attracted worldwide publicity after he successfully argued on behalf of a Sikh that the no-beard policy of a recruitment agency providing staff to London’s five-star hotels, was indirect discrimination. He donated his fees to the relief charity concert Khalsa Aid.

He has dealt with numerous cases involving the effects of Covid-19, including furlough, redundancy, and health & safety detriment and dismissal. In particular, he has represented and advised a significant number of clients made redundant for discriminatory reasons under the guise of redundancy.

Mukhtiar is a voluntary member of the Legal Support Network for Protect, the leading whistleblowing charity, and a member of its Advisory Council. He provides advice and representation, particularly on complex cases and interventions; and advises and shares good practice in order to extend and reform whistleblowing law. He contributed to the Whistleblowing Bill , which aims to strengthen whistleblowing protection.

Mukhtiar can assist with all types of disputes, including:

• Appeals against employment tribunal decisions
• Whistleblowing
• Unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal
• Discrimination including disability and all types of harassment
• The Senior Managers Regime
• Settlement Agreements
• Restrictive covenants, including urgent injunctions
• Breach of confidence
• Unpaid wages, including bonuses
• Discipline, misconduct and performance
• Long-term sickness absence
• Working Time Regulations
• National Minimum Wage
• Pregnancy, maternity, adoption and parental rights, including surrogacy
• Claims in the county or high court
• Professional discipline, with particular experience in the healthcare sectors.

 

Notable Cases:

• Instructed by two Claimants for a 22-day hearing against a leading European Bank and a number of individual workers. The claims included race and sex discrimination; whistleblowing; and Equal Pay (2022).
• Represented a Claimant for a 12-day racial harassment, victimisation and dismissal claim against a high-profile charity. The client, whose case settled favourably, alleged she was gaslighted following her allegations of discrimination which included tokenism (2021).
• 5-day whistleblowing case. Acted for a Claimant whistleblower (making serious allegations of fraud) against a multinational technology corporation. The client had previously been advised elsewhere that his case had poor prospects, but the case settled favourably shortly before the final hearing (2021).
• Acted for a Respondent charity in a claim involving working time, non-payment of wages and illegality (2021).
• Mehdinejad v Royal Mail Case No: 2204261/2019 (2020). Disability harassment claim, including an award of aggravated damages, where the claimant suffered from ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia. The client said Mukhtiar “understood my needs as a disabled claimant… this was critical to success”. Press coverage can be found here.
• 7-day unfair dismissal claim on behalf of a Claimant junior trader who had been dismissed by a leading global bank following allegations of market manipulation (spoofing) (2020).
• Sethi v Elements Personnel Services Ltd Case no. 2300234/2018 (2019). Successfully argued that the no-beard policy of a recruitment agency, which provided staff to 5-star hotels in London, was indirect religious discrimination as it put Sikhs at a particular disadvantage. The judgment can be read here.
• Parkin v Leeds City Council UKEAT/0178/19 (2019). Successfully appealed on two grounds that allegations of sex discrimination and harassment should not have been struck out either as there being no prospect of success or by failing to apply the two-part test of Hasan v Tesco Stores. The judgment is noteworthy as to the approach to multiple discrimination claims with lengthy pleadings and it can be read here.
• A 7-day religious harassment and victimisation claim (2019). Successfully argued that a Muslim employee was subject to religious harassment the day following the Manchester terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert and was victimised after he raised a complaint. The judgment can be read here.
• Unfair/wrongful dismissal dispute involving a city trader (2018). The central issue was the culture of the (well-known investment) bank at the time, including the prevalence of the alleged misconduct. The case involved a consideration of how a settlement, including a reference, could be achieved in light of the Senior Managers Regime.
• A 3-day county court case for unpaid pay with counterclaims for fraud and breach of post-termination restrictive covenants (2018). Having been instructed for 2 years on a direct public access basis, successfully settled on the first day of trial securing the full value of the claim and costs.
• 4-day unfair dismissal case brought by a director-employee involving allegations of financial irregularity and a breach of fiduciary duties (2018).
• A county court claim for a director’s payment in lieu of notice which had been withheld after the employer alleged to have subsequently discovered breaches of fiduciary duties (2018).
• 4-day disability discrimination case involving harassment because the employee had a hearing impairment. 3-day claim including age discrimination, detriment, unfair dismissal and holiday pay. Successfully argued that a rolled-up holiday pay clause was a sham (2017).
• Acting pro-bono, successfully negotiated at remedies stage a six-figure settlement for a Claimant who had established that her employer had subjected her to victimisation and race discrimination (2017).
• A county court claim involving the recoverability of finder’s fees and an allegation of breach of post-termination restrictions (2017).
• An equal pay case, including sex and pregnancy discrimination, involving city bonus schemes. A substantial settlement was obtained on behalf of the client (2016).
• A whistleblowing case involving a senior manager brought against a leading investment bank (2016).
• 8-day whistleblowing and unfair dismissal claim brought by a nurse, where a key issue was the meaning of “in the public interest” as inserted by s.17 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act (2015).
• Unfair dismissal and unpaid holiday case. Successfully argued that a construction worker under a written “self-employed” contract was an employee (2015).