About Thompsons

William Henry ‘Harry’ Thompson founds Thompsons Solicitors.

In an early precursor to the concept of equal pay for work of equal value, Thompsons represents Poplar Borough Council in a wage dispute (primarily about women’s pay), after the councillors increased minimum rates of pay to £4 per week regardless of the work done or the person doing it. The case is ultimately lost and the council has to pay penalties.

The UK fall-out from a politically motivated trial in India (known as the Meerut Conspiracy Case) is taken up by Thompsons, which represents three English textile workers denied bail and refused a proper jury trial. The criminal case lasts for many years and leads to the conviction of all three, before going to appeal where their sentences are dramatically reduced.

The National Council for Civil Liberties forms, with Harry Thompson as a founding member and member of the executive committee. The NCCL (now Liberty) starts its campaigns in the 1930s, particularly focussing on the activities of the Union of Fascists.

Joan Beauchamp, who Harry Thompson married in August 1921, publishes Women Who Work following years of activism for women’s suffrage, alongside the likes of Charlotte Despard and Sylvia Pankhurst.

Harry Thompson dies after complications following an operation, leaving behind his two sons, Brian and Robin, to lead what is by now Britain’s leading trade union law firm.

The UK’s first industrial disease case, involving exposure to Silica and the development of pneumoconiosis (a common miner’s disease), is won by Thompsons.

Thompsons wins a leading case involving the intimidation of a trade unionist, in which the court upholds an award of punitive damages against an employer. This is a turning point in judicial activism in trade unions.

The Court of Appeal awards extra compensation to a client represented by Thompsons, after an injury at work leaves her permanently disabled, which could mean a loss of future earning capacity. The landmark case results in the potential for extra compensation for all injured workers.

Thompsons represents union members in the Grunwick Dispute, which is sparked by the film processing plant’s poor working conditions and refusal to recognise trade unions.

Thompsons pursues and wins a test case on industrial deafness and subsequently leads in negotiations that result in the ground-breaking National Deafness Scheme, resulting in compensation for hundreds of thousands of workers whose hearing has been impaired at work.

Thompsons physically supports and legally represents thousands of trade unionists during the Wapping dispute. Thompsons’ lawyers attend the picket lines and accompany those arrested to defend them in court.

Firefighters attending fires started negligently are able to claim for damages as a result of Thompsons’ win in Ogwo v Taylor.

Thompsons establishes that the losing party in a personal injury case can’t unreasonably delay paying costs from the date of judgment.

Thompsons represents a number of speech therapists in a series of cases fighting for equal pay, which reaches the European Court of Justice. The Court finds that an employer cannot use a collective agreement to justify unequal pay, leading to the historic Agenda for Change – a national pay structure for the NHS.

Thompsons wins a landmark TUPE case on behalf of UNISON members at Orsett Hospital, meaning that if a new company takes over an existing employee’s contract the employee’s rights subsist.

Thompsons supports a number of miners suffering from chronic bronchitis and emphysema in a series of successful test cases, which lead to the world’s largest national compensation scheme, known as the Respiratory Diseases Scheme.

The European Court of Justice rules in favour of a challenge brought by Thompsons on behalf of a UNISON member who had been excluded from pension benefits following a TUPE transfer.

Thompsons represents a nurse in a successful claim following her developing a latex allergy from the repeated use of latex gloves. The case clarifies the extent of an employer’s duty to provide safe work equipment under the COSHH Regulations.

Thompsons wins back a UNISON member’s job in the UK’s first age discrimination case to go before an employment tribunal.

Thompsons wins a victory on behalf of a female train driver, who suffered tenosynovitis following inadequate training. The case helps define the modern principles of risk assessment.

Thompsons wins a seminal judgment in the Court of Appeal, overturning the High Court’s decision to grant injunctions preventing strike action.

The High Court rules employers should provide employees working in damp conditions with protective clothing in a major Unite the Union and Thompsons victory.

A challenge from Thompsons establishes that employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled workers when applying sickness absence policies which place them at a disadvantage, changing the path down which case law was progressing.

Thompsons secures a victory against UK construction companies in a blacklisting case, recovering millions of pounds for hundreds of workers.

Thompsons wins an appeal in the Supreme Court on behalf of NASUWT members, minimising salary deductions for strike action.

After seven years of litigation challenging a promotion practice which indirectly discriminated on grounds of race and age, Thompsons’ win establishes that claimants are only required to show that a practice caused a disadvantage and not the reason why, as a group, they suffered that disadvantage.

Thompsons secures victory for BBC presenter, Samira Ahmed, in a breakthrough pay equity and transparency case.

Thompsons ensures workers have a right to take lawful industrial action during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

A new fund is set up to compensate thousands of additional victims of jailed breast surgeon, Ian Paterson, and Thompsons is appointed to manage the claims.