In Ravisy v Simmons & Simmons LLP and Taylor UKEAT/0085/18 the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has endorsed an employment tribunal’s ruling that it had no jurisdiction to hear various claims under Equality Act 2010 brought by a Paris-based partner in an international legal practice.
The dispute over forced retirement
Like many UK-based international law firms Simmons & Simmons is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with members (still normally referred to as ‘partners’) working both in the UK and in a number of international offices, including Paris. The employment judge found that the Paris office was not a wholly independent business but enjoyed ‘the mixture of delegated autonomy and integrated control’ that would be expected for a ‘substantial national office’ of an international law business.
The claimant was a dual Madagascan and French national who had lived in France since the early 80s. She became
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