Mr G Baker, of Counsel For the v Respondent — 2020

At the preliminary hearing on 15 January and 3 February 2020, Employment Judge Nicolle decided only territorial jurisdiction. The tribunal held that it had jurisdiction to hear the claimant’s claims under s.13 ERA for unlawful deductions from wages and under the EqA for disability discrimination, harassment on account of disability, and victimisation. No substantive merits were decided at this stage.

The tribunal found that the claimant, an Indian national, had lived in the UK for about 10 years, owned a property in Harrow, and had family connections in the UK, including his children and both wives. It accepted that his UK home was his home base for the purposes of the assignment policy. Recruitment took place in London, and the offer letter and subsequent documents pointed to an employment relationship with Assala Energy in the UK, including an express choice of English law and English courts.

Although the tribunal rejected the claimant’s argument that the Gabon contract was a sham, it found that the Gabon contract was subsidiary to the UK contract of employment and was entered into to satisfy Gabonese legal and immigration requirements. It also found that the claimant’s salary was paid under the UK contract into a UK bank account, with UK tax and national insurance deductions, and that his benefits, including medical insurance, permanent health insurance and a pension allowance, were provided through the UK arrangements.

Applying the sufficient-connection approach in the territorial jurisdiction authorities, the tribunal held that the claimant’s employment had a sufficient connection with Great Britain and British employment law. It relied on the contractual structure, the claimant’s home and family ties, the involvement of London-based senior management, and the ongoing UK contractual and administrative links. It also added, in the alternative, that the EqA should be read consistently with directly effective rights under the Employment Equality Directive during the transitional period, although that was not necessary once jurisdiction had been established.