Declan O'Dempsey specialises in complex and sensitive employment, discrimination, public and regulatory law. His practice includes all aspects of employment law including whistleblowing, the fiduciary duties of agents and directors and injunctions, trade union cases and data protection law. He has been consistently recommended as a leading employment junior by Chambers and Partners for over 16 years.
He was in Homer v West Yorks Chief Constable ; the Heyday case ; intervened for the EHRC in Seldon in the Employment Appeal Tribunal and for Age UK in the Supreme Court and acted in Coleman v Attridge Law. He acted for the Claimants in Bent v Central Manchester University Hospital Trust (concerning the correct construction of the Agenda for Change contracts of NHS staff) and intervened in X v Mid Sussex CAB (the scope of protection against discrimination for volunteers) in the Supreme Court.
Controversial and sensitive cases include Azmi v Kirklees MBC (regarding the Niqab) and the Gurkha Welfare Association pension rights case as well as highly sensitive cases relating to social workers. He was involved in the Public Inquiry into the Personality Disorder Unit at Ashworth Special Hospital. He represented the claimants in the test case concerning caste discrimination, Begraj v Heer Manak . He appeared in Sobhi v Met Police (disability discrimination) and in The Manchester College v Hazel & Huggins (TUPE and constructive dismissal). In 2015 he acted for the theatre figure Terri Paddock against WhatsonStage, and for cricket umpires Willey and Sharp against the ECB.
His discrimination practice includes advising and representing in goods and services cases. Along with Catherine Casserley, Barbara Cohen and Caroline Gooding, he wrote the EHRC's statutory code on Services, Public Functions and Associations . In 2013 he co-wrote the Age discrimination supplement to that Code for the EHRC.
He acts in administrative law cases for individuals and councils, advising on matters affecting councillors, politicians, businesses and public bodies. He has particular expertise in relation to the application of the Equality Duties and is one of a team of 4 drafting the controversial technical guidance (Public Sector Equality Duty Statutory Code) for the EHRC under the Equality Act 2010. In April 2016 he addresses the Association of University Legal Practitioners in Cambridge on their duty under the government's Prevent anti radicalisation duty.
He advised the CRE on Code of Practice on Racial Equality in Employment (2005), and on their Formal Investigation into the Prison Service (2004).
In 2011, with Anna Beale, he co-authored a Thematic Report on Age Discrimination in the European Union for the European Commission. He has an international reputation as an expert on European anti-discrimination law, training lawyers, judges, civil servants and trade unionists in accession and existing member states on this subject most recently giving a speech to the Equinet network of equality bodies from across Europe. Domestically has worked closely with the Law Centres Federation to provide training to law centre workers on the new strands of anti discrimination protection both in employment and in relation to goods facilities and services and public functions.