In preparation for seminar four, please analyse the scenario above, and undertake appropriate legal research to formulate the legal advice that needs to be given to the client in relation to all of the above issues. You do not need to produce a letter of advice.

Preparing

You are a newly qualified solicitor at LawRocks LLP. Your name is Mo Ravat, and a key client is ScienceTech Ltd. ScienceTech Ltd is a global company with several branches across the UK.ScienceTech Ltd's UK HR Director, Penny Walowitz, met with you last week because there are some ongoing issues that she wants your advice on. Below is the attendance note of your meeting with Penny.

The client's address is: ScienceTech Ltd, Innovation House, Enterprise Way, Birmingham, B99 5VS

Attendance note	LawRocks LLP
Date:5/11/2023	Client Ref:ST4321.1
In attendance:Mo Ravat (MR) interviewing Penny Walowitz (PW) of ScienceTech Ltd (STL).
MR interviewed PW. PW explained to MR that there are a few ongoing human resources issues that she would like advice on. Chloe Jones (CJ) CJ works as an assistant on STL's IT helpdesk. Her role involves answering phone calls from colleagues who are experiencing IT issues. When she receives a call, she provides over the phone assistance to try and resolve the problem. Where she cannot resolve the issue, she refers the query on to the second tier support service. A member of that team will then investigate the problem further. The second tier support service is managed by Alan Savage (AS). PW has received a complaint from CJ who has accused AS of picking on her. CJ is transgender. She started to dress as a woman around six months ago, at which point she changed her name. Prior to that, CJ went by the name she was given at birth, which was Chris. CJ hopes to undergo gender reassignment surgery at some point in the future but has no firm plans as to when that might happen. Before CJ's transition, she and AS were good friends. They got on well and would often go for a drink together on a Friday lunchtime. However, CJ has told PW that, since her transition to live as a woman, AS only speaks to her in when he has to. When AS does speak to CJ, he is often rude. For example, when CJ can't resolve a colleague's IT issue over the phone and has to refer the matter to AS, he makes comments like "a real man would have been able to fix that one". AS also refuses to call CJ by the name Chloe and insists on calling her Chris. CJ reported to PW that she feels terribly unhappy at work. Although many of her colleagues have been very supportive over recent months, CJ dreads having to deal with AS. She thinks about it even when she is away from work and spends her Sunday evenings worrying about how he might behave towards her the following morning. PW tells you that she would prefer not to anything and just see whether things settle down. She is of the view that CJ is a bit of a troublemaker because CJ gave evidence in support of a former colleague who brought an Employment Tribunal claim against STL a few years ago. The colleague had accused one of his managers of discriminating against him because of a disability. Fatima Ali (FA), the Head of IT has also been to see PW. She was vaguely aware that there were tensions between CJ and AS but did not know any of the details. However, FA saw a couple of Facebook posts by CJ last weekend in which she made negative comments about STL. One of the posts said "I really wish I worked for an organisation that gave a damn about LGBT* rights. #Standuptotransphobia" The other said, "I literally hate my job. I work for the scummiest, most heartless and unprofessional company imagineable." CJ hasn't expressly mentioned STL in any of the posts, but her profile does state where she works. Both posts have been liked or shared over 150 times each and have been commented on several times by people criticising STL. PW has asked for your advice as to how she should handle the situation. Carlton Williams Carlton Williams (CW) is an employee in STL's digital laboratory. He has been working for STL for around six years. CW came to see PW last week to tell her that his partner is expecting their first baby next April. CW would really like to take a couple of months off after the baby is born to help his partner and to spend some quality time together as a family. STL doesn't have any policies that deal with this and so she wants to know whether STL is under any obligation to grant CW's request. STL Graduate Recruitment Scheme Part of PW's role includes overseeing STL's graduate recruitment scheme. Each year STL recruits around 25 graduates. The majority of the graduates are based in the Brum Town branch, but a few are recruited to London, Liverpool and Manchester. The graduates are recruited onto a two year training programme, during which they get to rotate around a number of different departments. PW has noticed that nearly all of the graduate recruits are of White British origin. PW does think that the profile of the recruits accurately reflects the ethnic profile of the cities in which STL is recruiting. PW wants to know if we have any recommendations as to what (if anything) STL can do to address this. PW Pay PW is concerned that she is paid less than the other UK Directors, who are all men. She has asked us to advise her on whether she might be able to bring a claim against STL in relation to this.