(sitting alone) Mr A Booth v NHS England — 2021

The claimant brought a claim of sex and race discrimination against NHS England. The claim form gave an Edinburgh address as the place where the claimant worked, which initially appeared to provide a basis for the Employment Tribunal in Scotland to have jurisdiction.

The claimant later clarified that the Edinburgh address related to Healthcare Improvement Scotland, described as his employer at the time, and was not connected to the respondent or to the claim. The respondent was NHS England, with a PO Box address and later a London head office address identified by the claimant.

The Tribunal found that rule 8 did not give the Employment Tribunal in Scotland jurisdiction because the respondent did not reside or carry on business in Scotland, the complained-of acts were not shown to have taken place in Scotland, and the Scottish address had no relevant connection to the claim or the respondent. It held that it could not transfer the claim because transfer under rule 99 assumes the transferring Tribunal has jurisdiction, and struck out the claim under rule 37(1)(a) as having no reasonable prospects of success.