Mr Kapirial v St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2022

Mr Kapirial, who had worked for St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as a Cancer Database Systems Manager, resigned on notice and said that additional work done between 24 and 30 November 2021 should have been paid separately. He claimed breach of contract and said £11,000 remained outstanding. The respondent said the work was done under the first contract, that he would instead be paid accrued leave on termination, and that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction or, alternatively, that the claim had no or little reasonable prospect of success.

The tribunal set out the jurisdictional framework under article 3 of the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) Order 1994 and section 3(2) of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996, and also addressed strike out under Rule 37 and deposit orders under Rule 39. It noted the caution required where a litigant in person has pleaded the case, and accepted that several of the respondent’s objections turned on factual issues, including employment status, whether there was a second contract, whether that contract was connected with employment, and whether any sum was outstanding on termination.

On the pleadings alone, the tribunal said it could not determine those issues. It therefore refused both the strike-out application and the application for a deposit order, held that the claimant should be given the opportunity to plead his case properly and adduce evidence, and said that jurisdiction would have to be determined at the final hearing.