Employment status: Computer specialist not an employee as no contract of any kind existed between the parties

In Hewlett Packard Ltd v O'Murphy 16.7.01 EAT 612/01, the EAT holds that a computer specialist was not an employee of the company to which he provided his services - Hewlett Packard - as there was no contractual relationship of any kind between them. It is not open to a tribunal to consider the nature of a contract without first asking itself whether a contract of any kind exists between the relevant parties.