Identity of employer

Case 3: The facts

Michael Hemmings accepted a job offer after responding to an advertisement inviting applications to “John Hardman Solicitors, Jupiter Department”. His payslips were marked as being from “Hardshelfco”, and a service agreement was produced headed “Hardshelfco 122 Ltd (t/a Jupiter Legal)”, although Hemmings did not sign it.

The business was in fact an “ambulance chasing” firm bringing in personal injury claims, and was not part of the solicitors’ practice. A few months after Hemmings joined, he and the other staff were dismissed when the business folded.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal supported a tribunal’s finding that the advertisement had been misleading, and that Hemmings had accepted the job in the belief he would be working for solicitors. Based on the documents provided, it said, the tribunal had been entitled to find that his employer was Hardshelfco, operating under the trading name Jupiter Legal.

Hemmings v Hardshelfco 122 Ltd and Hardman & Co UKEAT/0628/05