Miss A Tulipan v Sloane Square Hotel Ltd — 2019

Miss A Tulipan resigned on 5 October 2018 after a performance review meeting with Mr Yadam and LG on 4 October 2018. She said the resignation was prompted by bullying, overbearing supervision, emails sent while she was on leave, a comment that she was “stupid”, an alleged “monkey” remark, exclusion from a 27 September 2018 event, and a later email about a new Head Housekeeper. The tribunal found that the claimant had worked out her notice, accepted a leaving party and gift, and that her resignation letter gave no indication that she felt forced to resign.

The tribunal rejected the individual allegations that were said to amount to breaches of the implied term of trust and confidence. It found the emails on 30 September 2018 were informational only and not bullying or bad faith; that LG was entitled to monitor and manage rota and performance issues; that the evidence did not establish the “stupid” remark as alleged; and that the “monkey” comment was not proved. It also found that the 27 September event was a corporate or showcase event rather than a managers’ party, so exclusion from it was not a breach.

Applying Western Excavating (ECC) Ltd v Sharp and section 95(1)(c) ERA 1996, the tribunal held that none of the matters individually or cumulatively amounted to a repudiatory breach going to the root of the contract. It also held that the claimant’s own evidence was that the performance review meeting and the stress she felt in the role were the trigger for her resignation, and that the later email about a replacement Head Housekeeper post-dated the resignation and was not relevant to constructive dismissal. The claim for constructive unfair dismissal was therefore dismissed.