Rachel Crasnow

Year of Call

1994

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Areas of Practice

Commercial and Common Law
Employment and Discrimination
Equality / Discrimination / Human Rights
Public and Regulatory Law

Profile

Rachel Crasnow specialises in employment law, with a particular emphasis on discrimination and human rights. She represents a wide variety of clients and practices in all areas of employment law. She also undertakes a range of medical law work, education and public law, disciplinary hearings and inquests.

Employment

Rachel is known as a specialist appearing in complex, high-value claims involving race, age, sex and sexual orientation, disability and religion as well as TUPE, equal pay and whistleblowing cases.

Most recently Chambers & Partners described her as great with clients and "exceptionally sharp in cross-examination" and noted her considerable reputation for high-profile discrimination cases.
Last year it noted her "expertise in discrimination cases," her "great client and court manner" and her ability to impress "peers with her authoritative approach and careful thinking." The directory also highlighted her work with "policewomen in an equal pay case in the Court of Appeal in Blackburn & Manley v Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and the Equal Opportunities Commission in Cadman v. Health and Safety Executive."

Rachel acted as junior counsel for the Claimant in O'Brien v. Department of Constitutional Affairs in June 2010 in the Supreme Court, see [2010] UKSC 34. The Supreme Court considered whether part-time fee-paid judicial office holders, such as those sitting as Recorders and Employment Judges, can use the Part-Time Workers Regulations to claim pro-rata occupational pension rights to those of full-time judges. Rachel and her leader Robin Allen QC argued that Regulation 17 which excludes from protection "the holder of a judicial office if he is remunerated on a daily fee-paid basis" is incompatible with Directive 97/81/EC and the framework agreement on part-time work which the Regulations implement. The appeal also considered whether any judicial office holder, full-time or part-time, is a "worker" within the meaning of the Regulations as well as the context in which the exclusory Regulation 17 was inserted.

The Supreme Court referred the case to the ECJ and in its judgment agreed with much of the Claimant's contentions about his status: stating that although all judges hold an "office", their relationship with the Ministry of Justice is substantially similar to employment as they are expected to work during defined time periods and are not free agents in the same way as the self-employed.

The ECJ will have to consider whether it is open to national law to determine which employees are considered as workers for the purposes of the Directive or if this must be determined at European Union level. Judgment is not expected before 2012.

Regulation

Rachel has for many years been junior standing counsel for the British Psychological Society and has built up a significant expertise acting and advising in professional conduct matters. She also provides advice on a range of related issues including human rights perspectives on disciplinary proceedings. Rachel trains those psychologists and lay members who make up the Professional Conduct Panels and Assessors.

Rachel also represents professionals charged by their regulatory bodies that now come under the aegis of the Health Professionals Council and also acts for doctors before the General Medical Council. She has a particular expertise in free movement of medical professionals for nationals of new EU member states. Her High Court Regulatory work includes claims against the GMC regarding disciplinary proceedings against a general practitioner.

Directories/press

Rachel has been named as a leading Junior for many years by Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500. Chambers over the last couple of years describes her as:

"extremely effective",
"tenacious"
"a determined, gutsy advocate [who] demonstrates the rare ability to spot subtle points in highly specialised discrimination cases"
"She has built a deserving reputation in high-profile discrimination cases where she is able to empathise successfully with clients"

Publications

Co-author with Robin Allen QC and Anna Beale of Employment Law and Human Rights (OUP 2nd edition 2007)
Co-author of Blackstone's Guide to the Equality Act (OUP 2010)
Contributor and editor to Bullen, Leake and Jacob: Human Rights and ECJ sections
Editor of the Educational Law Journal's Case Commentaries until 2004