Identifying an entity

Case 1: The facts

Louise West lost her job following the transfer of a contract to provide catering services. Her employer provided catering services to a sports and leisure facility, covering the whole of that site and also offering catering to outside organisations using the same equipment.

When the owners of the sports facility decided to end the contract with West's employer, they entered into a contract with another caterer which carried out catering on a different basis - for example,they no longer offered catering to outside organisations. This meant that there was no job for West and she was dismissed.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that there had been no TUPE transfer. The business had not been transferred back to the sports and leisure facility and neither had it transferred to the new catering business. West could only pursue legal claims against the company she had been working for.

Wodson Park Sports & Recreation v West EAT/0219/02