In person v Respondent — 2019

The claimant's first claim, issued on 23 November 2018, had alleged race, disability and sex discrimination, unfair dismissal, and notice and other payments arising from her work as Senior Legal Counsel in Dubai. Employment Judge Glennie's reserved judgment of 21 August 2019, sent on 28 August 2019, held that her employment had a strong connection with the UAE and DIFC rather than Great Britain, so the ERA 1996 and Equality Act 2010 claims were outside territorial scope and were struck out. The breach of contract complaint in that earlier case had already been withdrawn and dismissed by judgment sent on 10 July 2019.

The second claim, presented on 27 February 2020, again relied on alleged sex, race and disability discrimination and also referred to victimisation and statutory wrongful termination under DIFC Employment Law. At the open preliminary hearing on 10 June 2021, Judge Nicolle held that UK tribunals are creatures of UK statute and do not have statutory jurisdiction to hear claims pursued under DIFC Employment Law. He found that the 2020 claim was, in substance, the same set of complaints as the 2018 claim, covering the same period, the same employment in Dubai, and the same alleged acts, so the earlier judgment gave rise to cause of action issue estoppel and the second claim was an attempt to relitigate matters already decided.

The claimant also sought reconsideration of the earlier breach of contract dismissal. The tribunal held that any reconsideration application was out of time under Rule 71 because almost two years had elapsed since the judgment had been sent, and it found no proper basis for revisiting the withdrawal and dismissal. The conclusion was that the second claim was struck out as an abuse of process and because the tribunal lacked statutory jurisdiction to hear the complaints. No monetary award was made.