Mr M Kler v Desap Enterprises Limited and 2 others — 2021

At the remote hearing on 8 November 2021, Employment Judge Whittaker recorded that Mr Kler accepted Sunbelt Rentals Limited was never his employer and had never issued him with a contract of employment. The tribunal found that his connection with Sunbelt arose only because Desap Enterprises Limited had a commercial contract with Sunbelt for outsourced IT services.

The tribunal also found there was no evidence to show that Mr Kler was a contractor of Sunbelt within section 41 of the Equality Act 2010, and that there were no circumstances establishing a contractor relationship between them. On that basis, the tribunal held that Sunbelt could not be found to have discriminated against Mr Kler or to be liable for any discriminatory acts of the first or third respondent. Sunbelt Rentals Limited was therefore dismissed as a respondent to the discrimination claims accepted by the tribunal and listed in the annex to the preliminary hearing case summary.