Jurisdiction

Case 7: The facts

Dr Williams was recruited to work for the University of Nottingham in Malaysia (UNMC). This is a company set up by the University of Nottingham, which is one of its shareholders and receives a percentage of its student fees.

After his employment ended, Williams brought claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. The issue on appeal was whether an employment tribunal had jurisdiction to hear his claims, given that he had worked outside Great Britain during the entire period of his employment.

The ruling

The House of Lords’ ruling in Serco Ltd v Lawson [2006] UKHL 3 (see Workplace Report, June 2006) sets out the criteria enabling an employee working abroad to bring a claim of unfair dismissal in the UK. The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that Williams did not meet those criteria, as he had not been doing work that was for the purposes of the University of Nottingham in the UK; UNMC was an entirely separate business. Following the same reasoning, he could not bring a discrimination claim either.

Williams v University of Nottingham EAT/0124/07