The employee sought to appeal a decision at a preliminary hearing that he had not been dismissed. He had asserted that the employment contract was illegal because income tax and NI contributions were not being deducted properly, and therefore was not justiciable, but that since he was unaware of the illegality, he could seek to enforce it.
Held: The ET erred in not identifying the correct legal test and in making findings of fact and conclusions which did not on the face of the decision satisfy the legal questions they had to answer. The appeal was allowed and the case remitted to a different tribunal.
EAT Jurisdiction –
Judges:
His Honour Judge J Altman
Citations:
EAT/0204/00, [2001] UKEAT 0204 – 00 – 1506
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Hewcastle Catering Ltd v Ahmed and Elkamah CA 1991
The employers devised a VAT evasion scheme depending in part on the co-operation of the employees, but the employees themselves received no benefit. After giving evidence against their employers, the plaintiffs were dismissed. The employer appealed . .
Cited – Euro-Diam Ltd v Bathurst CA 1988
The court had found that securities had been registered misleadingly in the US. The court held that it could not aid illegality. The court considered the defence of ‘ex turpi cause non oritur actio’. Kerr L.J: ‘The ex turpi causa defence ultimately . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 04 June 2022; Ref: scu.168225