Summary
The claimant, Mr Powell, was domiciled in England. The defendant, OMV Exploration & Production Ltd, was a wholly owned subsidiary of OMV Exploration & Production GmbH which had subsidiaries in a number of countries, including the UK. According to the contract, the claimant was working for 3 weeks in Dubai, and the 4th week he was on leave in the UK. The claimant was employed by OMV Exploration & Production Ltd. Although the registered office of the company was in the Isle of Man, it was found that it was managed from Vienna.
The claimant was suing in England under Article 19 of Brussels I.
In a reserved judgment, which was made 11th Dec 2012, the employment judge found that the English court had no jurisdiction. In spite of the fact that the defendant was considered to be domiciled in Austria, it was held that the place where the employee habitually carries out his work was in Dubai.
On 23rd July 2013, the decision of the employment judge was affirmed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Mr Justice Langstaff held:
“56 [...] It is clear that the employer here was not a British company: though I accept that that factor is not conclusive, it is none the less highly material. Secondly, the work was performed abroad by agreement, and largely so in practice. Thirdly, the judge was, as I have found, entitled to conclude that the essential work performed by the claimant was performed extraterritorially. [...]” [56]