Mr A Small of Counsel v Gloucestershire County Council — 2021

Mrs Griffiths brought a constructive unfair dismissal claim after resigning on 21 June 2019. The tribunal identified the governing issue as whether, before resignation, Gloucestershire County Council had acted without reasonable and proper cause in a way calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage trust and confidence, and whether she resigned in response. It referred to section 95(1)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the authorities on constructive dismissal, including Western Excavating v Sharp, Greenaway Harrison Ltd v Wiles, Kerry Foods Ltd v Lynch, Meikle v Nottinghamshire CC and Wright v North Ayrshire Council.

The claimant relied on events after the Gloucester Shared Lives team moved into Adult Services, including desk allocation, her objection to the management structure, the appointment of Caitlin Rose Snuggs as strategic review manager and line manager, and issues concerning service users or carers identified as AH and PH. The tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that the move to Adult Services and the appointment of an independent review manager were reasonable management decisions, and it did not accept that Keith Vardy had set out to undermine the claimant or that his explanation about desk allocation was a deliberate lie. It also found that the claimant's concerns about CRS and the handling of AH and PH did not amount to serious undermining of her authority.

The tribunal held that no fundamental breach had occurred before the claimant resigned at around 10.00 am on 21 June 2019. It noted that the claimant did not raise a grievance until after her resignation and that the later suspension and disciplinary process could not assist her constructive dismissal case because they were not known to her at the time she resigned. The claim was therefore not well-founded and failed in full.