Case 2207239/2020 · Employment Tribunal
Mr J Hockey v RCKA Limited T/A RCKA Architects — 2020
- Case reference
- 2207239/2020
- Decision date
- 6 October 2020
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Heath Representation
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Mr J Hockey
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThe claimant, an architect employed by RCKA from March 2012, resigned on 10 October 2020 after a period in which the respondent had documented concerns about his performance. The tribunal accepted contemporaneous evidence from 2017 onwards showing concerns about teamwork, communication, report writing, time management and project delivery, including review notes in 2018 and early 2020, and a formal warning in March 2020 arising from the HNCC project.
The tribunal found that the respondent mishandled its capability process. The March 2020 warning was issued without the claimant being offered accompaniment, and the purported dismissal letter of 15 September 2020 was procedurally unsatisfactory. The respondent later took HR advice, retracted the dismissal, and proposed a final written warning and performance improvement plan. The tribunal found that the claimant had reasonable grounds to believe the respondent had performance concerns, although it accepted that he believed the situation was really one of redundancy and could see why he held that view.
Applying the test for constructive dismissal, the tribunal held that the respondent’s conduct as a whole did not destroy or seriously damage trust and confidence. Mr Riley’s email of 6 October 2020 about Park House was found to be a genuine request for information rather than a sinister or harassing act, although in context it could potentially have been viewed by the claimant as a final straw. Even taking the events together, the tribunal concluded that there was no repudiatory breach and no constructive dismissal. Because there was no dismissal, the wrongful dismissal claim also failed and no remedy was awarded.
Claims and outcomes
2 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructive dismissal | Claim pleaded as constructive unfair dismissal. The tribunal found no repudiatory breach of the implied term of trust and confidence and held that the claimant resigned rather than being constructively dismissed. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Wrongful dismissal | The tribunal held that the claimant was not dismissed without notice because he was not dismissed at all; the purported dismissal had been retracted before his resignation. | Dismissed | — | — |
Legal tests applied
6 references- s.95(1) ERA 1996
- Western Excavating (ECC) Ltd v Sharp
- Malik v Bank of Credit and Commerce International Ltd
- Leeds Dental Team Ltd v Rose
- Frenkel Topping v King
- London Borough of Waltham Forest v Omilaju
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
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