Mr Patrick Andrews v Abellio London Limited — 2021

Mr Andrews resigned after Abellio refused his request for Mr Neckles to accompany him at a disciplinary hearing concerning a drugs and alcohol testing issue. The Tribunal found that Mr Andrews had deliberately failed to provide a sufficient urine sample and that, absent the resignation, the disciplinary outcome would have been dismissal for gross misconduct.

The constructive dismissal claim failed because the Tribunal found that the right to be accompanied by a chosen companion was not an express contractual term and, even if it had been, was not an essential term going to the root of the contract. It also found no breach of the implied term of trust and confidence. The breach of contract claim for notice pay failed because Mr Andrews resigned with immediate effect and was not dismissed, actually or constructively.

The Tribunal upheld the section 10 Employment Relations Act 1999 complaint because Abellio refused Mr Andrews' reasonable request to be accompanied by his chosen companion. The section 12 detriment and dismissal complaints failed because the Tribunal held that the refusal itself was not a separate qualifying detriment and that section 12(3) still required a constructive dismissal, which had not been established. Compensation for the section 10 breach was assessed at £300.