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Stephen is a solicitor and a Senior Lecturer in Employment and Equality Law. He worked in private practice for many years, becoming an Employment Law partner in a commercial law firm acting for both employers and employees. His advice covered all contentious and non-contentious matters. He has conducted advocacy on behalf of clients before most UK Employment Tribunals. He holds a current practising certificate, which enables him to support students in a professional capacity in the University’s Legal Advice Service.
Stephen has taught Employment and Discrimination Law for over a decade at a number of universities to law undergraduates, postgraduates and professional vocational students on the LPC as well as providing CPD training for business professionals. He is also trained in alternative dispute resolution.
He has considerable experience in leading initiatives to develop law student employability. This includes establishing successful university legal advice centres at two universities, offering pro bono family law and employment advice.
He is an academic subscriber to the Institute of Employment Rights. He also has experience sitting as a Justice of the Peace (England & Wales) in adult crime cases.
He publishes in the areas of philosophical belief discrimination and disability harassment and regularly delivers public lectures on Employment and Equality Law topics.
He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Areas of expertise
Employment Law
Equality Law
Philosophical Belief in the Workplace
Disability Law
Contract Law
Human Rights Law
Publications
Books and book chapters
Hurley, S ‘Unfair Dismissal and Philosophical Belief in the Workplace’ in Hewitt, L and Welsh, J (eds) (Routledge, 2025, forthcoming) Rights and Justice: Theory and Practice
Hurley, S and Monaghan, C (eds) (Routledge 2024, forthcoming) Debating Rights and Justice: Challenges and Opportunities for Research Led Teaching
Hurley, S ‘Teaching and debating the legal protection of philosophical belief in the workplace in a university law school’ in Hurley, S and Monaghan, C (eds) (Routledge 2024, forthcoming) Debating Rights and Justice: Challenges and Opportunities for Research Led Teaching
Hurley, S (2019) ‘The fraudster at work: the interaction of the criminal justice process with the operation of an employer’s disciplinary procedures’ in Monaghan C and Monaghan N (eds) Financial Crime and Corporate Misconduct: A Critical Evaluation of Fraud Legislation (Routledge, 2019)
Conference Papers
Hurley, S (2023) ‘The law of unfair dismissal and its role in protecting non-religious philosophical belief in the workplace’, Rights and Justice: In Theory and Practice Conference, University of Worcester, September 2023
Hurley, S (2023) ‘Protecting political speech for the public good’, The Annual Conference of the Society of Legal Scholars, Oxford Brookes University, June 2023
Hurley, S (2023) ‘Teaching and debating the legal protection of philosophical belief in the workplace in a university law school’, Debating Rights and Justice: Challenges and Opportunities for Research Led Teaching Conference, University of Worcester, June 2023
Hurley, S (2022) ‘Connecting the ‘why’ with the ‘how’: Should non-religious philosophical belief be protected by law in the British workplace? If so, what is the appropriate theoretical justification for doing so?’, The Annual Conference of the Society of Legal Scholars, King’s College London, Sept 2022
Hurley, S (2017) ‘The fraudster at work: the interaction of the criminal justice process with the operation of an employer’s disciplinary procedures’ in The Fraud Act 2006 – Ten Years On workshop, University of Worcester, 2017
Hurley, S (2012) ‘Positive Action Powers in ss158, 159 Equality Act 2010’, Greenwich University Postgraduate Conference 2012 (unpublished)
Research Seminars
‘Now for some audience participation: the role of clients and service users in deciding if you are allowed to manifest your protected philosophical belief in the workplace’, School of Law Research Workshop, Sept 2022
‘Is a fear of catching COVID-19 a protected philosophical belief? Should it be?’, School of Law Research Workshop, March 2022
‘Non-religious philosophical belief in the workplace - Is your philosophical belief worthy of protection?’, School of Law Research Workshop, July 2021
‘Judging books by their covers – perceived disability discrimination’, School of Law Research Seminar, University of Worcester, February 2018
‘Access to Justice as a fundamental legal principle and Tribunal Fees: panel discussion on the UK Supreme Court’s decision in the UNISON case (R (on the application of UNISON) v The Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51) (with HH Toby Hooper QC and Chris Monaghan), University of Worcester, October 2017
‘Disability Harassment’, School of Law Research Seminar, University of Worcester, December 2016