Mr Anis Bazza v Wired Media Limited — 2023

Mr Anis Bazza was employed by Wired Media Limited as a Digital Accounts Manager from 10 or 11 January 2022 until 13 April 2022. At the public preliminary hearing on 5 May 2023, the tribunal considered whether it had jurisdiction to hear his wrongful dismissal and breach of contract claims. The respondent said the claimant had remained abroad throughout the employment despite the role being UK based, while the claimant said it had been agreed that England and Wales would be the applicable law and that he was only temporarily outside the United Kingdom.

The tribunal referred to The British Council v Jeffery 2018 EWCA and found that the claimant had failed to establish a strong connection to the UK. It accepted the respondent's case that he had willfully remained abroad during the employment, despite an express term that the role was UK based, and noted that if working abroad had been agreed the contract would have reflected that position and the governing law. On that basis, the respondent's jurisdiction application succeeded.

Because the tribunal found that it had no jurisdiction to hear the claim, the respondent's applications for strike out and a deposit order did not need to be determined. No substantive findings on the merits of the wrongful dismissal or breach of contract claims were made, and no monetary award was recorded.