Case 2603057/2021 · Employment Tribunal

Mrs S Caine v Defence Equipment And Support and 1 other — 2022

Case reference: 2603057/2021
Decision date: 23 June 2022
Jurisdiction: England & Wales
Judge: Employment Judge S Pinder
Venue: East Midlands

Indexed: 18 May 2026

Parties

3 named

Claimant

Mrs S Caine

Respondents

Key findings

Tribunal's reasoning

The tribunal removed Defence Equipment & Support as a respondent, finding that it was a bespoke trading entity of the Ministry of Defence and that the Ministry of Defence was the correct legal respondent.

The claimant, an American citizen with indefinite leave to remain, had been offered and started employment with Defence Equipment & Support. The tribunal found that, under the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act 1919, the Aliens' Employment Act 1955 and the Civil Service Nationality Rules, she was an "alien" for these purposes and did not fall within the relevant exceptions. Her marriage to a British citizen did not bring her within the EEA family member exception because her husband had not exercised free movement rights in another member state, and indefinite leave to remain did not displace the nationality requirements.

The tribunal concluded that the purported contract was prohibited by mandatory statutory nationality requirements and was void from the outset. On that basis the breach of contract and/or wrongful dismissal claim had no reasonable prospect of success and was struck out. The claimant's proposed race discrimination amendment was refused because it was a substantial new claim, was out of time, and any claim based on the application of the Civil Service Nationality Rules would be covered by the statutory exemption in Schedule 22 Equality Act 2010.

Claims and outcomes

3 findings recorded

Claim type	Issue or finding	Outcome	Protected characteristic	Award
Breach of contract	The contractual claim was struck out under Rule 37(1)(a) because the tribunal found the purported contract was void from the outset and unenforceable due to the Civil Service Nationality Rules and related statutory nationality requirements.	Struck out	—	—
Wrongful dismissal	The judgment described the claim as breach of contract and/or wrongful dismissal. The claim was struck out because the tribunal found there was no enforceable contract on which a wrongful dismissal claim could proceed.	Struck out	—	—
Race discrimination	The claimant's application to amend her claim to include direct race discrimination was refused. The tribunal found the amendment was a substantial new cause of action, out of time, and that any such claim would face the statutory exemption in paragraph 5 of Schedule 22 Equality Act 2010 concerning Civil Service nationality rules.	Other	Race	—

Legal tests applied

18 references

Official outcome judgment PDF

Gov.uk primary record

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Open official judgment PDF on gov.uk

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