Claimant v Urosevic v John Lewis plc — 2022

Ms V Urosevic brought a constructive unfair dismissal claim arising from her employment with John Lewis PLC from 11 September 2011 until her resignation on 13 October 2019, with the effective date of termination recorded as 8 November 2019. She said that a series of incidents over 2018 and 2019, including matters involving Shah, Abdi, Alan Bradley and Lucie Mongellas, amounted to breaches of the implied term of trust and confidence and led her to resign.

The tribunal found that, even taking the claimant's evidence at its highest, the incidents involving Shah and Abdi were not sufficiently serious to amount to a breach of the implied duty of trust and confidence. It also found that the 2019 discussion with Mr Bradley about the 'it's on us' initiative, even if his tone was patronising, was not a breach. The tribunal accepted that the July 2019 incident with Ms Mongellas was the claimant's described 'last straw', but found it was not in fact the last event in the sequence and did not amount to the necessary fundamental breach.

The tribunal concluded on the balance of probabilities that the claimant had not shown any sufficient breach that led to her resignation. It found that the real reason for her resignation was a build-up of frustration with how the King's Cross store was managed, together with disappointment about leaving the John Barnes branch and moving to King's Cross, rather than a constructive dismissal-triggering breach. The resignation letter itself did not refer to the alleged breaches or explain that she was resigning because she could no longer continue in employment.

The claim for constructive unfair dismissal was therefore dismissed. The tribunal said the previously listed remedies hearing on 13 December 2022 was not required and should be removed from the diary/list. No monetary award was made.