The appellant company appealed dismissal of their defence to a claim for unfair dismissal that the employment contract was tainted with illegality. The EAT had heard two cases with raised the question of the effect on unfair dismissal claims of illegality.
Held: These were not cases in which false representations had been made. That was sufficient to distinguish earlier cases. These were rather cases of wrong characterisation. The contracts were not unlawful and were enforceable.
Judges:
Lord Justice Pill, Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Lord Justice Lloyd
Citations:
[2008] EWCA Civ 393, Times 02-Jun-2008, [2008] IRLR 500, [2008] ICR 1423
Links:
Statutes:
Employment Rights Act 1996 94(1)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Holman v Johnson 5-Jul-1775
ex turpi causa non oritur actio
A claim was made for the price of goods which the plaintiff sold to the defendant in Dunkirk, knowing that the defendant’s purpose was to smuggle the goods into England. The plaintiff was met with a defence of illegality.
Held: The defence . .
Cited – Hall v Woolston Hall Leisure Limited CA 23-May-2000
The fact that an employment contract was tainted with illegality of which the employee was aware, did not deprive the employee of the possibility of claiming rights which were due to her under a statute which created rights associated with but not . .
Cited – Tinsley v Milligan HL 28-Jun-1993
Two women parties used funds generated by a joint business venture to buy a house in which they lived together. It was vested in the sole name of the plaintiff but on the understanding that they were joint beneficial owners. The purpose of the . .
Cited – Salvesen v Simons EAT 22-Oct-1993
Lord Coulsfield referred to the moral dimension applicable where an employee and employer sought to evade taxes by pretending tat the employee was in fact self-employed: ‘It is not necessarily inequitable that persons who seek to take advantage out . .
Cited – Daymond v Enterprise South Devon EAT 6-Jun-2007
Underhill J said: ‘where an employee has made a positive choice to operate arrangements which have the effect of depriving the Revenue of payment to which it is entitled, contracts giving effect to those arrangements will be unlawful notwithstanding . .
Cited – Miller v Karlinski CA 1945
It was too plain for argument that a contract of employment under which the employee was paid a salary and also ‘expenses’ that included the income tax payable on the salary was against public policy and therefore unenforceable. . .
Cited – Salvesen v Simons EAT 22-Oct-1993
Lord Coulsfield referred to the moral dimension applicable where an employee and employer sought to evade taxes by pretending tat the employee was in fact self-employed: ‘It is not necessarily inequitable that persons who seek to take advantage out . .
Cited – Software 2000 Ltd v Andrews etc EAT 17-Jan-2007
EAT Four employees successfully established before the Employment Tribunal that they had been unfairly dismissed for redundancy. The Tribunal found that there had been procedural defects. In particular the . .
Appeal from – Enfield Technical Services Ltd v Payne; Grace v BF Components Ltd EAT 25-Jul-2007
EAT Unfair dismissal – Exclusions including worker/jurisdiction
These two appeals consider the circumstances in which contracts will be considered illegal so as to preclude an employee from taking claims . .
Cited by:
Cited – Connolly v Whitestone Solicitors EAT 24-Jun-2011
EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS – Fraud and illegality
Contract of employment – illegality in performance.
An employee who knows that his assertion to be self employed is unsustainable and yet claims to the . .
Cited – Hounga v Allen and Another SC 30-Jul-2014
The appellant, of Nigerian origin had been brought here at the age of 14 with false identity papers, and was put to work caring for the respondent’s children. In 2008 she was dismissed and ejected from the house. She brought proceedings alleging . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.267043