Interview With Employment Lawyer & Author Gillian Susan Howard

 

1.     What inspired you to write this book? My father when I was very little told me always stand up against bullies. He inspired me to read Law and as employment law was in its infancy and still is a political football, I was lucky to specialise in labour law and in particular the anti-discrimination legislation and start my practice. One particular incident stands out in my mind when I knew this was what I wanted to do. At school there was a very nasty bully, let’s call her Cathy, in my class at School whose father was a Black Shirt, a follower of Oswold Moseley. She was picking on the only other Jewish girl in my class (Viv) who was small and rather timid, and started kicking her and abusing her. I told Cathy to stop. She replied “You Jews are all dirty pigs who should have all burned in the gas chambers”. At that I punched Cathy very hard in the stomach and told her if she ever abused or bullied anyone again or ever said anything like that again her face would never be the same shape again, she wouldn’t ever be able to hold a pencil again and she wouldn’t be able to sit down for some time. 

At that she ran to tell the teacher what I had done. I saw the teacher look over to me and then say in a very loud voice “Oh No Cathy, Gillian wouldn’t do anything like that. Now go away and stop telling tales”. I realised then that the other side of a bully is a coward and that when someone who cannot stand up for themselves needs help – I’m your woman.

 

My father was my inspiration and when I wanted to read French at University – he told me to read Law as he knew I was very good at arguing !

My other inspiration are my many wonderful clients who over 40 years have entrusted their cases to me. I have faced the lies and deceptions of major law firms acting for their corporate clients and have never let them bully me or cheat or win

 

2.      What exactly is it about and who is it written for? The book contains 39 chapters – 38 of which are real cases with names changed and a few facts changed. The final chapter contains anecdotes which have caused me to laugh, smile and cry – I called this “Tales of the Unexpected”. One client to whom I said “Just tell the truth” did just that so when I asked him why he had dismissed the lady in question turned to the Employment Judge and said “Because she was fat and ugly” !!!

The book is about women who have been discriminated against, dismissed because they are pregnant or wish to return after maternity leave; women who have been massively underpaid compared to their male counterparts; women who have been sexually harassed and raped at work; gay men who have been blackmailed at work because they are gay or have been falsely accused of sexual crimes; employers who are tax dodgers, caught out by my client; men in positions of great power who have stalked and harassed my female clients and who have dismissed them when they have complained; employers who have falsely accused of unfair dismissal; discrimination or harassment when they have done no such things; clients who have blown the whistle on employers making corrupt and illegal payments.

 

In one case one of the Magic Circle Law Firms (global Law Firm) thought they could hide vital and devastating documents very harmful to their case. My chapter on Bianca’s Tale is a salutary lesson to any other lawyers who think they can lie and cheat and hide documents from me. 

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? An insight into the world of employment law and employment lawyers and what men and women over the past 40+ years have faced and are still facing even in 21^st Century – sexual and racial and homophobic harassment and victimisation and I have acted for men and women engaged in gender transitioning who have been harassed or lost their jobs. I act mainly for the underdog. 

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? The title perfectly describes what I have written about - the secrets that I tell about how I won some of my cases in the face of deceit and lies by their lawyers ! The cover is the picture on my website of a Rottweiler holding one of my wonderful handbags! 

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!?
If you have got a story to tell then get writing. Everyone loves to hear personal stories well told. Make sure you have someone you can trust to read and re-read and edit your drafts – as there will be many drafts. 

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?  Digital books despite the fact that I love a book to read in my hand 

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? Yes, the entire Book is my experience over the years with some wonderful clients and some now friends 

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? Fluent but with humour – I would like to think a little like Sir John Mortimer and in some cases like John Grisham  

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? Remembering some of my older cases but it was fun contacting the clients and they reminded me of some of the funny moments as well as the more poignant moments. I also had to be very careful to change the names and sometimes the professions and certain facts so that the protagonists could not recognise themselves. I also had it libel-checked! Although everything I wrote was true if not in some case partly fictionalised 

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? Because it is a great read; it will interest most people; most people who work and may have suffered the same fate as some of my clients or met some of the characters in my Book or may have had similar issues. A police officer wrote to me (in the Metropolitan Police Force) to tell me he had been harassed and made very ill after being “outed” as being gay many years ago. He wrote he loved my Book and although he knew it would, he didn’t want it to end. I am currently acting for a whistleblower in the National Health Service who blew the whistle on sexually lewd behaviours by his bosses and bribery and corruption of very well-known surgeons in major teaching hospitals and the Chief Executive has tried to cover it all up. 

The case is being heard in the first week in September and will be a chapter in my next Book. 

About the Author: I am a tenacious and dedicated employment litigator who is known as the Rottweiler with a Handbag. I act against all kinds of bullies for women and men who have been harassed, bullied and badly treated at work – and have a 100% success rate! I specialize in discrimination laws and also act for whistleblowers who have lost their jobs for reporting corruption and bribery both in the private and public sectors. For more info, please see: www.gillianhoward.co.uk

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.