Paras Gorasia

Practice Areas

Paras specialises in all aspects of employment and equalities law, investigations and privacy. He has particular experience in high value and/or sensitive disputes involving discrimination, whistleblowing, bonuses, illegitimate competitive activity, misuse of confidential information, unfair/wrongful dismissal and TUPE. Clients include major FTSE listed businesses/multinational corporates, senior executives and other high net worth individuals. He acts for both Claimants and Respondents across the UK and is instructed with increasing frequency in claims involving international/offshore elements, criminal conduct/misfeasance, collective claims as well as disputes involving the sports sector (both clubs and individuals).

In recent years he has been instructed to advise on and/or bring claims against Respondents such as Apple, Google, West Ham United FC, Yorkshire CCC, Marks & Spencer, News UK, CNN, BBC, London School of Economics, Telefonica, HSBC, AA, HEE, Home Office and Capita.

Career

Called July 2005 (Inner Temple). Judicial Assistant at the Court of Appeal to the then Master of the Rolls, Sir Anthony Clarke (now Lord Clarke) (January 2007). Pegasus Scholar to Hong Kong (October 2009). Appointed to the Panel of Counsel for the EHRC (2011-2015). Appointed to the Welsh Assembly Government's Panel of Junior Counsel in Employment Law (October 2012). Appointed to the Attorney General’s Regional Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown (2012-2018). Appointed Joint Head of the Doughty Street Employment Team in November 2021.

Professional Memberships

ELA, ELBA, ILS, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Personal

University of Kent (LLB with First Class Honours) (1999-2002); Exeter College, Oxford University (BCL, MPhil) (2002-2004); King’s College London (LLM) (2004-2005).

Clients

A member of the UAE Royal Family, Amnesty International, European Space Agency, ActionAid, BASF, RAC, RSA, Cambridge University Press, Oxford Brookes University, Direct Line Insurance, AMEC Foster Wheeler, Parker Hannifin, Saipem, Infosys, Michelin Tyres, Adidas, JD Sports, Jaeger, CBRE, Manchester City FC, Manchester United FC, Liverpool FC, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Leicester Football Club, Virgin Active, AstraZenica, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser, Smith and Nephew, UK Biocentre, Superdrug Stores, Air France, British Airways, Balfour Beatty, Network Rail, Weetabix, UK Coal, DHL, BT, British Gas, TalkTalk, BSkyB, Brewdog, Molsen Coors, Marriott Hotels, McDonalds, Fortnum and Mason, Pret a Manger, Domino’s Pizza, HelloFresh, Tesco, Costco, Sainsbury’s, DSG Retail, John Lewis, Barclays Bank, Santander, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Lloyds Bank, Standard Life, Co-operative Bank, General Medical Council, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defence and Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Work Highlights

MacFarlane v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2023] EAT 111 (Amendment application), Scheldebouw v Evanson [2022] EAT 157 (Without Prejudice privilege), Sweeney v Merseyside Community Rehabilitation Company Ltd UKEAT/0277/17/JOJ (Admissibility of Evidence), HMRC v Jayeola UKEAT/0052/19/DA (Hypothetical Comparators), O’Neill v Jaeger Retail Ltd UKEAT/0026/19/RN (Extension of time for discrimination claims), Peters v Rock Chemicals Ltd [2016] EOR 30 (March) (Age Discrimination), Eyres v Excel Compressors & Ors UKEAT/0347/16/DA (Perversity and Variation of Contract), Ham v Governing Body of Beardwood Humanities College [2017] EWCA Civ 1629 (Band of Reasonable Responses), Mental Health UK Ltd v Biluan & Ors [2013] All ER (D) 265 (Redundancy), Local Government Yorkshire and Humber v Shah [2012] All ER(D) 20 (Nov) (ACAS uplift).

Industry Sector Expertise

Restraint of Trade, Harassment and Employment Related Litigation : Paras is regularly instructed to advise upon disputes in respect of the enforceability of restrictive covenants and the use of confidential information by ex-employees. He has particular experience in respect of applications for and against injunctive relief and is well versed in dealing with disputes concerning the fiduciary duties of directors and senior employees. He is frequently instructed in litigation in areas as diverse as bonus claims, pensions related disputes, harassment, professional regulatory hearings, employee incentive/share schemes and negligent misstatement claims.

Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblowing) Detriment and Dismissal: Public Interest Disclosure claims feature heavily in Paras’ caseload and he is regularly instructed in multiday claims and is frequently sought out for his expertise in this area by senior executives and large corporate employers across the spectrum of economic activity on a national basis. Paras has been involved in litigation involving disclosures of the utmost severity involving inter alia serious financial misfeasance, tax fraud, avoidable deaths and serious health and safety breaches. He has been frequently instructed in litigation where the nature of the disclosures would cause significant reputational and financial damage and is well versed in dealing with the unique issues that cases of this type raise.

Group Litigation and Collective Labour Disputes: Paras has been frequently instructed on group claims for both Respondents and Claimants and is usually instructed in an early stage of proceedings to provide his view on liability, quantum and litigation strategy (including appropriate settlement parameters). He has particular experience in litigating collective claims involving protective awards, claims dependent upon worker/employee status as well as claims involving a breach of Regulation 13 TUPE and is used to dealing with claims cumulatively valued in the £millions. Paras was heavily involved in litigation arising out of the closure of the Deep Mining Industry in the UK, including the closure of Daw Mill, Thoresby Colliery and Kellingley Colliery and associated claims for protective awards by affected workers.

TUPE and Trade Union Litigation : Paras has extensive experience dealing with TUPE and Trade Union disputes on behalf of both Claimants and Respondents on a national basis. He has particular experience in advising upon the extraterritorial application of the TUPE regulations and is often instructed to deal with crossover issues across the entire spectrum of employment disputes and TUPE transfers. He is also frequently instructed in protective award claims, collective contractual claims, collective bargaining disputes and union recognition claims.

Equal Pay, Discrimination and Equality Law: Throughout his career at the Bar, Paras has been involved in a multitude of lengthy and complex multiday discrimination cases acting and advising both Claimants and Respondents nationally. He has built up particular expertise in high value, complex and reputationally sensitive disputes and has acted for some of the largest and most prominent employers in the country across the entire spectrum of claims arising out of these areas, as well as associated claims in the Civil Courts. Paras is also very experienced in bringing claims on behalf of HNW Claimants and has a very successful record in concluding such matters against high profile organisations including a number of FTSE 100 corporates as well as financial institutions.

Privacy and Confidential Information: Paras’ rapidly developing practice in this area stems from his extensive experience in conducting employment law disputes and his focus on high-value, complex whistleblowing and discrimination disputes for both leading corporates and high-net value individuals. Due to the nature of his practice and the issues arising therefrom, he has advised Respondents and Claimants on confidential information and privacy issues arising out their employment disputes, much of his work has the potential for significant reputational damage and his practice in this area stems from adjacent issues stemming from his work as an employment practitioner.

Employment Related Crime: Paras is frequently instructed in employment claims involving criminal acts both in and outside of the workplace for both Claimants and Respondents. He is also regularly sought out by a wide range of clients in advisory capacity where issues concerning concurrent (or likely) concurrent proceedings in the criminal and civil jurisdictions arise for his opinion on merits, litigation strategy and risk mitigation. His experience in this area has seen him attract repeated instructions from firms specialising in criminal litigation who require employment related advice for their clients and works in conjunction with his colleagues in DSC’s Criminal Teams to provide multidisciplinary holistic advice and representation as required.

Investigations: Paras is frequently sought out by a wide range of clients (including law firms) to conduct complex internal investigations, as well as being instructed in an advisory capacity for wide scale HR issues which raise potential high value liabilities for a range of corporate and non-profit making organisations. He has extensive experience in conducting disciplinary and grievance investigations involving the entire spectrum of employment related issues and in particular is frequently involved in matters pertaining to allegations of public interest disclosures and detriment, breakdown in working relationships, serious misconduct, discrimination and potential criminal acts both in and outside the workplace.

Sports: Paras’ experience in the sporting sector is derived from his specialist practice areas and in particular the cross-over between his employment and privacy work given the high-profile and complex nature of his work in this sphere and the reputational considerations prevalent. His experience to date has seen him act and/or advise Premiership Football Clubs such as Manchester United FC, Manchester City FC, Liverpool FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC in their employment issues as well as a Premier League Football Manager and Professional Cricketer in their disputes with their ex-employers. He has been instructed to deal with various discrimination and whistleblowing claims involving impropriety at senior levels including potential criminal conduct.

Education