Mr S Robson (solicitor) For the v Respondent — 2020

Ms L Ogundimu had been an employee of the BBC before moving to Lagos in April 2018 to take up the Co-Production Editor role. The tribunal found that the recruitment materials referred to local terms and conditions and a right to work in Nigeria, but that the written contract sent on 9 April 2018 was the operative document and expressly named British Broadcasting Corporation Nigeria Limited as the employer.

Applying the objective test for contract formation and referring to Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher, Carmichael and another v National Power plc, Maggs (t/a BM Builders) v Marsh and Patel v Specsavers Optical Group Ltd, the tribunal held that the claimant accepted the new contract by working under it. It found that the contract was clear about a Nigerian employer, a Lagos place of work, Nigerian law and local terms, and that the claimant did not sign or return the document but nevertheless worked on that basis.

The tribunal rejected arguments based on the BBC logo on payslips, the fact that the claimant's line manager was employed by the respondent, the absence of an exit interview and the continuation of payroll issues after the move. It also relied on the claimant's own July 2018 email asking about her 'local contract' as consistent with her understanding that the contract applied to her. The tribunal found that matters such as sick pay, the medical evacuation, the grievance process and the later notice of termination were dealt with in relation to BBC Nigeria Limited, not as evidence that the respondent remained her employer.

The reserved judgment therefore held that the claimant was not employed by the respondent between 16 April 2018 and 13 March 2019. The judgment did not reach the merits of the disability discrimination, breach of contract or unlawful deduction from wages complaints against the respondent, and no monetary award was made in this decision.