In person For the v Mr Chehal, employment consultant — 2022

The tribunal found that Mr J Ingle-Smith was invited to the private dinner by Henry and arrived believing he was entitled to be there in connection with the respondent’s launch event. It accepted that he had become inebriated, sat at a place occupied by another guest, and continued to eat and drink after being asked to leave. The tribunal rejected the allegation that Mr Kristian Robson attempted to physically assault him, but it accepted that Mr Robson made the threats that he would "shoot" the claimant and "beat the shit out of" him.

On that basis, the tribunal held that Mr Robson’s threats were a repudiatory breach of the implied term of trust and confidence and that there was no reasonable and proper cause for them, even though Mr Robson had cause to require the claimant to leave. The tribunal found that the claimant resigned the next morning in response to the threats, that the threats played a material role in the resignation, and that he had not affirmed the contract. It therefore concluded that the claimant had been constructively dismissed and that the dismissal was unfair under sections 94 and 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

For remedy, the tribunal found a 25% chance that the claimant would have been fairly dismissed in any event, so it applied a Polkey reduction of 25% to the compensatory award. It also found contributory conduct by the claimant in refusing to leave, behaving defiantly, and continuing to eat and drink, and reduced both compensatory and basic awards by 75% for contribution. The tribunal rejected any ACAS uplift/reduction point based on the claimant not using a grievance procedure, and calculated an unreduced basic award of £1,642 from a gross weekly wage of £615.38 and three full years of service, reduced to £410.50; the compensatory award was reduced to £1,066.60.