Bio
Vivienne advises on the whole employment life cycle, from recruitment to talent retention, managing health issues at work, complex grievances, change programmes, senior exits and equalities learning. She brings experience from having successfully represented clients in complex multi-party tribunal claims (most often complex whistle-blowing and discrimination claims) to her advisory work, to capture and improve best practice.
Vivienne has a strong understanding of individual motivators for behaviours in the workplace and works closely with her clients to understand what sits behind a dispute, to bring about pragmatic outcomes in difficult situations. Her diverse client base incorporates the public and private sector, from automotive, manufacturing, tech, aviation, environmental, senior living to local government and policing, both UK based and international.
Vivienne is part of the firm's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy group working on our ESG strategy and working with clients on identifying where to focus their efforts across the broad ESG space. She is Co-Chair of Enable, Gowling WLG's disability, health, well-being and menopause network. Vivienne's relevant experience includes advising:
- A large housing and care provider with operational HR queries, change programmes, streamlining disparate contracts, equality issues and defending mixed tribunal claims (ET and EAT).
- Higher Education sector on complex gender equality issues.
- Private and public sector clients in how to successfully manage complex grievance and conduct / culture investigations.
- Business protection advice to private sector clients, managing senior exits.
- Police authorities, successfully steering clients through judicial mediation to positive outcomes and defending complex discrimination and whistleblowing claims. Positive settlements for significantly less than initially claimed.
- An international transport sector client, successfully defending a complex contractual dispute in the Employment Appeal Tribunal, supporting the business in managing union relations and wider issues, whilst resolving the matter.
- Training client HR and operational teams in how to write strong investigation reports and outcome letters, whistleblowing, the menopause at work and non-visible disabilities, on ESG.