Wrongful dismissal: Contract claim by employee dismissed before starting work

In Sarker v South Tees Acute Hospitals NHS Trust [1997] IRLR 328 the EAT holds that an industrial tribunal had jurisdiction to hear a breach of contract claim brought by an employee whose contract of employment was terminated by the employer before the date on which she was due to start work. According to the EAT, the contract entered into by the parties was a contract of employment, and not merely an agreement to enter into a contract of employment when the obligation to start work came into effect.