Neurotechnology in the workplace - legal experts warn of looming threats to workers’ rights and freedoms
Law firm Leigh Day will host a seminar on the legal implications for the workplace of emerging neurotechnologies.
Posted on 18 June 2025
Titled Neurotechnology in the Workplace – Employment Law, the event will take place on Thursday 26 June 2025, from 5.45pm at Panagram, 27 Goswell Road, EC1M 7AJ.
As neurotechnology evolves at pace, enabling the monitoring and potential manipulation of workers’ cognitive functions, lawmakers and employers face urgent questions about how current employment and human rights laws apply.
The largely unregulated nature of these technologies raises profound concerns around surveillance, discrimination, unfair dismissal, and Article 3 rights (freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment).
The Leigh Day event will be held in collaboration with the Centre for Neurotechnology and Law (CNL), bringing together some of the most prominent legal minds in this space.
Speakers include:
- Dr Allan McCay, co-director of the Sydney Institute of Criminology and President of the Centre for Neurotechnology and Law
- Liana Wood, partner in Leigh Day’s employment department
- Ryan Bradshaw, partner in Leigh Day’s human rights department
The evening will open with a welcome from Harry Lambert, barrister and co-founder of the Centre for Neurotechnology and Law and founder of Cerebralink Neurotech Consultancy. The panel will be chaired by Gene Matthews, joint head of Leigh Day’s human rights department.
The seminar will explore how existing legal frameworks – designed for an analogue era –may be ill-equipped to deal with the neurotechnology-enabled workplace, and what reforms may be necessary to safeguard neurorights.
The CNL was launched in 2024 to explore the intersection of neurotechnology and the law - with key input from Leigh Day partners and human rights lawyers Gene Matthews and Sean Humber, who serve as treasurer and secretary respectively.
Gene Matthews, human rights partner at Leigh Day, said:
“We are entering a new frontier where the boundaries between thought and technology are increasingly blurred. This event is about ensuring that workers’ rights keep pace with innovation. Employers and regulators must not lose sight of dignity, autonomy and consent in the pursuit of efficiency and productivity.”
RSVP via the following link by 20 June 2025 to secure your place.
Gene Matthews
Gene specialises in consumer law, product liability and data protection claims mainly brought as group claims/ multi-party actions
Sean Humber
Sean is an experienced human rights lawyer and privacy breach compensation claims specialist
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