in person For the v Ms Laura Robinson — 2023

Mrs Tracey Lewis brought a sole claim of constructive unfair dismissal. The tribunal said the legal question was whether there had been a fundamental breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence, applying the constructive dismissal authorities it cited, including section 95(1)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, Western Excavating, Malik, Omilaju, Tullett Prebon and Buckland.

The claimant relied on a series of matters said to amount to a breach: the removal of an 8B post from her team, the addition of three staff to her responsibilities, refusal of a September 2021 secondment request, and the conduct surrounding an external consultant, Ms Ruth Ball, and psychometric testing in January and February 2022. The tribunal found that the 8B post was removed with the claimant’s agreement, that she later approved the resourcing structure, that the extra staff were within her job description and were transferred with her consent, and that the secondment refusal was justified by the respondent’s business need and consistent with policy.

On the consultant and testing issue, the tribunal accepted that the project and its purpose were poorly explained, but found that Mr Anthony Browne had told the claimant she was under no obligation to participate. It found that he did not lie to her and had not acted contrary to any express agreement. The claimant assumed that he had misled Ms Ball, but had not checked the position with him after Ms Ball said there seemed to be confusion. The tribunal held that the alleged last straw did not occur, and that the matters relied on did not individually or cumulatively amount to a breach of contract. It also found that the claimant had already decided to resign because she was dissatisfied with the job and the wider organisational changes, and that this dissatisfaction, rather than any repudiatory breach, was the reason she resigned.