Ms H Platt, of Counsel For v Respondent — 2019

Ms M Joseph worked for the London Borough of Ealing from 15 January 1990, latterly as a Housing and Benefits Officer and, from April 2015, as a home worker. The dispute arose after she accessed the Northgate Revenue system at about 11pm on Good Friday, 30 March 2018, for a reason unrelated to her duties. The respondent suspended her on 12 April 2018 and investigated the matter, later adding concerns about further access to Revenue records and, more generally, timekeeping.

The tribunal accepted that there were delays and procedural defects in the investigation process. It found that the respondent had not fully and regularly communicated the 7:30am to 6pm working-hours expectation, that some meetings started late, that the investigation notes were summaries rather than verbatim transcripts, and that the respondent failed to comply with its disciplinary timescales and update requirements. It also found that some references to performance were inappropriate in a disciplinary process. However, it held that these matters were not sufficiently serious, either individually or cumulatively, to amount to a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence.

The tribunal found that the claimant resigned on 31 October 2018 because of the letter dated 28 September 2018 inviting her to a disciplinary hearing and her realisation that dismissal for gross misconduct was likely. It did not accept that her resignation was caused by the earlier procedural complaints. It also found that, by continuing in employment for months while those matters were known to her, she had affirmed the contract in any event. As a result, the constructive unfair dismissal claim failed, and the wrongful dismissal / notice pay claim failed with it. The age discrimination claim had been withdrawn on 16 September 2019 and did not proceed to a substantive determination.