Mr. Cowley, representative v Respondent — 2021

The claimant, Lynne Lucas, worked for Hermes Parcelnet Limited from 1 April 2014 until her notice expired on 29 May 2020. She brought a constructive unfair dismissal claim arising from events on 4 May 2020, when she resigned after being asked to assist with outstanding OPS 155 work. The tribunal found that she and Andrew Lewis had previously had a good working relationship and that her account of a prior deterioration was an embellishment that had not been raised during the grievance process.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had been assisting with the OPS 155 work since around December 2019 and that, on 4 May 2020, she was asked to help complete around 70 outstanding entries, not all 1000 items on the report. It found that this was a reasonable request and that the claimant became aggressive, was not listening to instructions, and focused on who had asked for the work rather than what needed to be done. The tribunal rejected her evidence that the task was unachievable and rejected the allegation that Mr Lewis swore at her.

Applying the constructive dismissal authorities it cited, including Western Excavating and the implied term of trust and confidence in Malik and Baldwin, the tribunal held that the respondent had not acted in a way calculated or likely to destroy trust and confidence without reasonable and proper cause. It also applied the objective approach noted in Tullett Prebon and found that the claimant left because she was struggling with the role, which was corroborated by what she had told colleagues. On that basis, the tribunal held that no repudiatory breach was established, the claimant resigned rather than being dismissed, and the constructive unfair dismissal claim was dismissed.