Discrimination abroad

Saggar v Ministry of Defence CA TLR 9 May

The claimant was a Lieutenant Colonel in the RAMC who complained of racial discrimination while on a posting to the Princess Mary Hospital RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, which is a sovereign base area, not being part of Great Britain. Both the employment tribunal and the EAT held that because the employee was not employed at an establishment in Great Britain at the time of the complaint, they had no jurisdiction under s4 and s8 of the Race Relations Act 1976. Section 8 provides: ‘(1) … employment is to be regarded as being at an establishment in Great Britain unless the employee does his work wholly or mainly outside Great Britain.’