In the case of Dowling v. United States of America, the UK Employment Tribunal has upheld the State immunity of the USA in respect of the claims by a former Motor Pool Supervisor employed by the US Embassy.
The Employment Tribunal applied the decision by the Supreme Court in Benkharbouche v Embassy of the Republic of Sudan [2019] AC 777 to find that the Claimant’s employment role at the US Embassy was such that he was involved in the exercise of US sovereign authority. It was on this basis that the Tribunal held that the USA enjoyed immunity and thus dismissed all of the Claimant’s claims in the case.
Read the decision here.
Professor Dan Sarooshi KC appeared for the United States of America, instructed by Michael Burd and Emma Delap of Lewis Silkin LLP.
