Council awarded £20,000 in costs after locum solicitor loses “vexatious” employment claim

The judge said at a costs hearing that some of Ms Rivers’s claims could have caused reputational harm to council legal officers.

Ms Rivers had worked on an agency basis for Medway as a locum lawyer in the place team legal department. On 1 October 2018 she took up a 12 month fixed term contract which was subsequently extended to 30 April 2020 but not further renewed.

She presented a claim to the employment tribunal in May 2020 alleging whistleblowing detriment, automatic unfair dismissal, race and disability discrimination, harassment, and breach of contract. Medway denied all claims.

There followed a series of delays during which Ms Rivers cited lack of time to prepare and various medical conditions. The tribunal in April 2025 unanimously dismissed all her claims.

Judge Ord said: “The written reasons make clear that the claimant lacked credibility and reliability.“

The judge pointed to one paragraph in the tribunal findings that said:”The claimant was evasive with her answers in cross examination. Her answers were largely inconsistent with the contemporaneous documents.

“We found her to be neither credible nor reliable. In fact we go as far as to say that many of her claims were delusional and without any basis. Some of them were directed at professionals, whose reputation could have been damaged.”

The tribunal found Ms Rivers had not made any protected disclosures and “some of the allegations were non-specific and difficult to understand”.

It also dismissed claims that temporary gestational diabetes and migraines amounted to disabilities and said there was “no evidence whatsoever of any race discrimination…the evidence was totally devoid of anything from which such an inference could have been drawn”.

It added: “The contemporaneous documents demonstrated that several of the allegations did not occur at all, and others were twisted to suit the claimant’s case. The same goes for the lack of evidence of harassment.”

Medway agreed to extend Ms Rivers’ contract to October 2021 subject to her passing CILEX examinations

“She did not even take her CILEX exams, let alone pass them”, the tribunal said, rejecting an unfair dismissal claim.

Judge Ord said: “The manner in which the proceedings were conducted was disruptive, abusive and unreasonable with respect to the large number of applications to postpone close to or during the hearing, the claimant’s lack of co-operation over documentation and the late exchange of witness statements. This led to additional costs for [Medway].

“The unfounded allegations the claimant made were serious and damaging. This was particularly so as the respondent is a public authority and the claimant struck at the heart of its governance. The allegations had the potential to cause significant reputational harm to both the council and the legal officers concerned.”

Mark Smulian