EAT The parties agreed that in the event of any employment dispute , the applicable law would be German, and the place of jurisdiction Frankfurt, which was where the claimant lived and from where she worked (though she came on occasion to the UK). She brought claims under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and Equal Pay Act 1970 in an Employment Tribunal in the UK. The Employment Judge held the ET did not have jurisdiction. He was not referred to relevant legislative provisions. When asked to consider those provisions, on an application for review, he refused to entertain a review. The claimant appealed: held that he should have held a review, and if he had the claimant would have succeeded, since the Brussels I Regulation had the effect that the UK had jurisdiction; that although German law was applicable under the Rome Convention, this could not exclude the provisions of the UK Acts, which (since they had world-wide territorial scope) should be applied. The ET had jurisdiction, since it could determine the facts amongst which was German Law.
Langstaff P J
[2012] UKEAT 0593 – 11 – 1506, [2012] Eq LR 732, [2012] ILPr 34, [2012] ICR 1343
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment, Discrimination
Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.461867