Gregory Paul Turner v. Felix Fareed Ismail Grovit and Others

British citizen Gregory Paul Turner (plaintiff) resided in the United Kingdom. Turner was recruited for employment by a member company of Chequepoint Group. Chequepoint Group ran currency exchanges and was owned by Felix Fareed Ismail Grovit (defendant). In Spain, Turner worked for Harada (defendant), a Chequepoint Group member company. Turner resigned from Harada and filed a claim against Harada in the Employment Tribunal in London. Turner was awarded damages. Changepoint (defendant), another member company of Chequepoint Group, sued Turner in Spain for claims related to Turner’s employment. Turner was served with a summons, but Turner objected to the Spanish court’s jurisdiction. Turner sought from the England and Wales High Court of Justice an injunction that barred Grovit, Changepoint, and Harada from continuing with the Spanish proceedings and imposed a penalty for noncompliance. The High Court initially issued an injunction but declined to extend it. Turner appealed. The appellate court enjoined Grovit, Changepoint, and Harada from continuing the Spanish proceedings or initiating new proceedings anywhere that involved Turner’s employment contract. The injunction penalized failure to comply. The appellate court found that the Spanish proceedings were initiated in bad faith and were intended to obstruct Turner’s claim before the Employment Tribunal. To obey the injunction, Changepoint terminated the Spanish proceeding. Grovit, Changepoint, and Harada appealed to the House of Lords, arguing that courts in the United Kingdom, which was a member of the Brussels Convention (the convention), could not issue orders restraining judicial proceedings in a foreign state, such as Spain, that also was a member of the convention. The House of Lords stayed the case and referred the question to the European Union Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.