Read v Ryder Ltd UKEAT/0144/18/BA

Appeal against the ET’s decision upholding the Respondent’s counterclaim, for the repayment of course fees, to the Claimant’s claim in respect of his final pay package. Appeal allowed.

The Claimant resigned from his job with the Respondent, and was liable to repay a proportion of the fees for a course that the Respondent had paid for him to attend. He brought a claim for payment of his final pay package, and the Respondent counterclaimed for the course fees to be repaid. The ET rejected the Claimant's claim and gave judgment in favour of the Respondent. The Claimant appealed on the ground that the ET was wrong to conclude that it had jurisdiction to deal with the counterclaim, as such jurisdiction could only arise under the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) Order 1994 (the 1994 Order), where proceedings in respect of a claim are "by virtue of" the 1994 Order.

The EAT held that, unless a claim brought by a Claimant either must necessarily have been brought under the 1994 Order or was unequivocally brought under the 1994 Order, it should not be considered to have been brought "by virtue of" the 1994 Order; accordingly, the ET was wrong as a matter of law to find that it had jurisdiction to deal with the Respondent's counterclaim, and the judgment in the Respondent's favour would be set aside.

http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2018/0144_18_1611.html

Published: 25/03/2019 17:09

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