Mrs Christine Phillips v Cognita Schools Limited — 2021

Mrs Christine Phillips was employed by Cognita Schools Limited as an Admissions Registrar from 2006 and resigned by letter dated 17 December 2021, giving notice to 16 January 2022. The tribunal recorded that the case was brought as a constructive dismissal claim and that the central issue was whether the respondent had committed a repudiatory breach of contract, including a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence, and whether there had been a last straw event.

The tribunal found that the dispute arose after a complaint from the marketing manager, Sarah Archer, about the division of admissions and marketing work, particularly holiday cover. It accepted that Mr Honey discussed the issue with the claimant and later adjusted holiday working arrangements, but found that the emails and meetings during 2021 remained professional and did not show conduct calculated or likely to destroy trust and confidence. The tribunal preferred the evidence of Mr Honey and Mrs Chambers on the key disputed events, and found that the claimant’s account was affected by hindsight and by her perception that her professionalism had been questioned.

The tribunal held that the claimant did not tell her employer she was being bullied before resigning, that no formal grievance was raised while she was employed, and that the resignation letter was the first reliable time she made that position clear. It also found that the claim did not establish excessive workload as a repudiatory breach, and that the claimant resigned because the personal relationship with Mrs Archer had broken down and because she understood that Mrs Vas would not be replaced, rather than because of any breach by the respondent. Applying the Malik test and the last straw principles, including Omilaju and Kaur, the tribunal dismissed the constructive dismissal claim.