John Mackenzie is a sole practitioner specialising in the field of Employment Law and Disability Discrimination. He has conducted successful cases against leading banks, leading firms of accountants, building societies, government departments, government agencies, police forces, local authorities, manufacturers, NHS Trusts and other major employers.
He is a leading expert in Dyslexia discrimination and has conducted landmark cases in this area of disability. He is a trustee of the British Dyslexia Association.
John Mackenzie is an expert in the military legal system and has represented military personnel in race and gender discrimination cases as well as Courts Martial, including representation in the Oxford Coroner’s Court for relatives of Iraq War casualties.
He has conducted cases at all levels of the Court system including several high profile cases at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
As an experienced solicitor advocate, he is able to take a case from initial preparation right
through to representation at Tribunal or Court Hearing. With in-depth knowledge of the details
of the case, this gives particular advantage over a case where a solicitor instructs a separate barrister.
Cases are undertaken for clients throughout the UK.
Contact:
Rotherfield House,
7 Fairmile,
Henley-on Thames,
Oxfordshire RG9 2JR.
Tel: 01491 411022.
Fax: 01491 411056.
Regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.
About John Mackenzie.
John Mackenzie initially trained as a barrister and was called to the Bar in 1971.
In 1979 he qualified as Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
He has Higher Advocacy Rights in Criminal and Civil Proceedings as a Solicitor Advocate.
He has practised in criminal law, general litigation, discrimination and military law, and currently specialises in employment law.
John was a founding partner of Mackenzie Persaud, practising in the London area, and
Mosteshar Mackenzie in San Diego, U.S.A.
He now practises as a sole practitioner.
He is a member of the National Institute of Military Justice in Washington D.C.
In 2007 he was appointed Trustee of the British Dyslexia Association.
Publications.
Advocacy in the Magistrates Court, (1992) published by the Legal Action Group.
Articles in the New Law Journal and Legal Action Group Journal on a wide variety of topics.
Contributor to the British Dyslexia Association publications Code of Practice for Employers
and Guide for the Justice System.
Training.
John Mackenzie has conducted advocacy training courses for Solicitors and the Army
Legal Services.
He has lectured at the University of Kent Law Faculty and regularly addresses Police
Federation seminars.
Media.
John Mackenzie is a frequent broadcaster on both radio and television.
Employment Law
John Mackenzie specialises in Employment Law with particular expertise in the area of discrimination, including race, gender and disability.
He has conducted discrimination claims for employees of banks, N.H.S trusts, local authorities,
the civil service, the Army, the Police and other mainstream employers.
Recent high profile cases include:
2002. Huskisson v. Abbey National for dyslexia linked discrimination.
The award, £95,000, was the highest award for any disability claim that year.
2006. Brooking v. Essex Police for dyslexia linked discrimination, arising from the resignation of Owen Brooking as a probationer.
2008: O’Reilly v Lancashire Care NHS Trust: The NHS Trust was found to have discriminated against the Claimant who was awarded compensation. The Respondent appealed to the EAT (the appeal is misnamed as Reilly v Lancashire NHS Trust UKEAT/0254/09/CEA). The EAT rejected the appeal in an important judgment on the obligation on employers to implement reasonable adjustments.
2008. Lance Bombadier Kerry Fletcher v. the British Army for sex and sexual orientation discrimination. The first case where punitive damages have been awarded by a Tribunal against an employer.
2009. Dhrupa Bid a dyslexic trainee accountant with KPMG was dismissed for failing her first exams due to her dyslexia. KPMG contested the case. The Birmingham Employment Tribunal awarded Dhrupa £45,000 in compensation for KPMG’s failure to implement reasonable adjustments. It is interesting to note that when taking exams on computer Dhrupa achieved marks of around 45%. With 25% extra time and taking the exams in written form Dhrupa achieved 80%.
2009. Chief Inspector Phil Haynes. The Bristol Employment Tribunal found that Gloucester Police had discriminated against CI Haynes by failing to implement reasonable adjustments in his assessment for promotion to superintendent and in his day to day work.
2010: Kelly v West Yorkshire Police: the force was found to have failed to make reasonable adjustments for a PCSO and ordered to pay compensation to the Claimant.
John Mackenzie undertakes Employment Law cases on a contingency fee basis (no win, no fee).
Disability Discrimination: Dyslexia.
As hidden disabilities, dyslexia and related specific learning difficulties are often poorly
understood by both employers and the legal profession, yet they are the most common
disability in the workplace, affecting over 10% of the population.
This complex area of disability requires an in-depth knowledge and appreciation of the communication difficulties which may present in order to evaluate, prepare and undertake
a case in the Employment Tribunal. The preparation of a case for a dyslexic client may
require a greater amount of time and persistence compared to other cases, which John
fully appreciates.
John Mackenzie has built up a considerable expertise in this area and has access to highly
qualified dyslexia professionals and expert witnesses.
Military
John Mackenzie has considerable knowledge of military procedures and has acted for the
defence in a number of high profile British Army Courts Martial including:
1999. R v. Norton and others: manslaughter arising from a Foot Guards exercise in Jamaica.
2002. R v. Newby Grant: the Rhine Army International Show balloon disaster.
2003. R v. Cooke and others: manslaughter arising from the alleged death of an Iraqi looter in Basrah.
Cases in the European Court of Human Rights.
Since 1992, John Mackenzie has conducted a series of successful challenges to the British Court Martial system in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, either on his own or in conjunction with other military legal practitioners.
These cases have caused the British Government substantially to reshape the Courts Martial system by a number of Acts of Parliament, beginning with the seminal Findlay case.
1997, 21st January: Findlay v. the United Kingdom.
1999, 18th February: Hood v. the United Kingdom.
2000, 14th March: Jordan v. the United Kingdom.
2002, 10th December: Jordan (2) v. the United Kingdom.
2002, 26th February: Morris v. the United Kingdom.
2003, 16th December: Grieves v. the United Kingdom
2004, 15th June: Grieves v. the United Kingdom.
2004, 15th September: Le Petit v. the United Kingdom.
Discrimination.
John Mackenzie has conducted a number of race and sex discrimination cases against the Army, the most recent of which was the first case where punitive damages were awarded against an organisation in an Employment Tribunal: the case of Lance Bombadier Kerry Fletcher v. the British Army for sex and sexual orientation discrimination (2008) in which the Employment Tribunal awarded the claimant £180,000.
Other widely reported cases include the sex discrimination cases of Warrant Officer Angela McConnell (2003) and Corporal Leah Mates (2005), one unsuccessful and one successful.
A recent race discrimination case for racial abuse and assault, Kerry Hylton v. the British Army, resulted in damages awarded of £35,000, (2008).
Service Families.
John Mackenzie represents several of the families of the 6 RMP servicemen murdered in Iraq
in 2003 and acted on their behalf at the Oxford inquest.
Police
John Mackenzie has cases against 7 Police Forces for dyslexia discrimination on behalf of
a wide range of ranks.
A landmark case was concluded in 2007: Owen Brooking v. Essex Police.
Owen, a probationer had resigned because of discriminatory treatment. His claim was successful.
John Mackenzie is currently taking part in a series of seminars conducted by the Police Federation of England and Wales on the implications and consequences of deaths from police shootings (following the high profile Harry Stanley case in London), and is assisting the Federation on legislative changes required to facilitate police firearms operations.
He took part in an important panel on the Harry Stanley case at the 2006 Police Federation Conference in Bournemouth.