Mr T Adkin, Counsel v Respondent — 2018

This was a preliminary hearing to determine the Claimant's employer. The Claimant had been employed from 14 November 2011 to 28 October 2017 as 'Expert - Personal Holidays' and had brought claims of unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal. The ET1 named Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited as the employer, but the Claimant pointed to the inconsistency between her contract and other employment documents and had entered early conciliation against Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited, Virgin Holidays Ltd and Virgin Holidays.

After considering the agreed bundle, hearing evidence from Mrs Shelley Pleydell and receiving submissions from both parties, the tribunal found no evidence that the written contract was a sham or that it failed to reflect the true position. The 19 September 2017 offer letter and contract identified Virgin Holidays Ltd as the employer, and the judge held that Virgin Holidays Ltd was the correct respondent. The tribunal accepted that payslips, P60s, P45 documentation and internal emails referred to Virgin Atlantic or VAA Ltd, and that this had contributed to the Claimant's understandable confusion, but those references did not displace the contractual documentation. Applying the authorities cited by the parties and Rule 34 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013, the tribunal amended the title of the proceedings so that the claim would proceed against Virgin Holidays Ltd.