Mrs M Connor v My Pension Expert Ltd — 2019

Mrs Connor was employed as a Retirement Technician from 19 October 2015 until she resigned on 12 November 2018. She relied on a series of workplace incidents in the months before resignation, including a timekeeping "strike", desk changes, and management attention to her conduct, but the tribunal found those matters were not the cause of her resignation and did not amount to a breach of contract. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had not raised grievances during employment and that her own evidence was that the dispute centred on what happened at the meetings on 5 and 6 November 2018.

The tribunal preferred the respondent's evidence about those meetings. It found that the claimant had said words to the effect of asking when they would get a "proper team leader", that this was inappropriate because the team leader was present, and that Andrew Megson convened the 6 November meeting to address negativity on the sales floor. On the tribunal's findings, Mr Megson did not tell the claimant to resign, did not swear or shout, and instead said words to the effect that if she was not happy she could leave the organisation. The tribunal held that this was not a request or instruction to resign and did not amount to conduct calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage trust and confidence.

Applying the constructive dismissal authorities, including Western Excavating and Malik, the tribunal held there was no repudiatory breach of contract and therefore no constructive unfair dismissal under section 95(1)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It noted that the meeting might have been better handled in private, but found the respondent had reasonable and proper cause for addressing the claimant's attitude and comments. The tribunal also recorded that, had constructive dismissal been established, it would not have found the dismissal fair under section 98(4) ERA 1996 on the evidence, and that significant contributory fault would likely have reduced compensation, but those issues did not arise because the claim failed.