Agnieszka Florczak v Powys County Council and 1 other — 2019

The tribunal dismissed the claimant’s race discrimination, harassment, victimisation and constructive dismissal claims. It found that the claimant, a Polish national with limited English, did not receive the first page of her written particulars of employment and therefore did not fully understand that her cleaner role involved Easter and summer deep-clean work as well as term-time hours. However, it held that this misunderstanding, and the later dispute about holiday and inset-day working, was not because of race.

The tribunal accepted that the respondent’s managers repeatedly raised the issue because the claimant was not undertaking the deep-clean hours that the school said were required, and because they needed to clarify her contractual position. It found that letters, meetings and requests for translation or occupational health support were reasonable steps in those circumstances. It rejected the claimant’s allegations that shouting, rude treatment, or other incidents were motivated by race, and it also rejected the suggestion that she was subjected to detriment because she had made complaints in April 2016. The tribunal found that the respondent took the complaints seriously and initiated an investigation.

On constructive dismissal, the tribunal held that there was no repudiatory breach of contract and no breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. Applying Western Excavating v Sharp and the statutory dismissal test, it concluded that the real issue was the claimant’s refusal to accept the working hours required by the school, rather than any conduct by the respondents entitling her to resign. It therefore found that she had not been dismissed within the meaning of the Act and dismissed the unfair constructive dismissal claim. No monetary award was made.