28 April 2008
The EAT held in Hunt v United Airlines Inc UKEAT/0575/07 that a flight attendant who would have been based at Heathrow airport had she not been on long term sickness absence was not employed in Great Britain and as a result could not bring a claim for unfair dismissal when she was dismissed by her employer.
The flight attendant, a US citizen, worked for United Airlines in Paris. She agreed to be transferred to Heathrow airport in London but was unable to complete her transfer after she fell ill and subsequently went on long term sickness absence. Long term sickness absence issues were dealt with by United Airlines from its base in Chicago. After entering into a medical arbitration process with United Airlines regarding her illness, the employee was invited to a disciplinary meeting and dismissed. She claimed unfair dismissal.
It was held by the EAT that the proper way to determine jurisdiction was to consider where an employee was based at the time of their dismissal and not, as in the above case, where they would have been based had their circumstances been different. Employees who wish to claim unfair dismissal but who are working in more than one jurisdiction will therefore have to show that they are in fact based in Great Britain at the time they are dismissed.