Mr S Mensah v Governing Body of the Joan Roan School — 2019

Mr Mensah was a science teacher on a fixed-term contract due to expire on 31 August 2018. The dispute arose after a Year 7 science lesson on 7 March 2018 in which a coil of magnesium went missing. The tribunal found that he did not report the loss immediately to his Head of Department or the safeguarding lead, and that the school regarded the delay as a serious health and safety and safeguarding concern. The headteacher suspended him, the matter was investigated by Mr Tomlin, and disciplinary proceedings were later commenced. Settlement discussions also took place, but they did not resolve the matter.

The tribunal accepted that the school was concerned not about how the magnesium disappeared but about the delay in escalation and the possible risk to pupils. Applying the implied term of trust and confidence, and the question whether the employer had reasonable and proper cause, it held that the suspension was not a knee-jerk reaction and that the school had reasonable and proper cause to suspend him and to initiate disciplinary proceedings after the investigation. It also found that the wording of the disciplinary allegations was vague, but not so vague as to amount to a fundamental breach of contract.

The tribunal further held that the without prejudice email from Mr Higgins on 7 June 2018, saying that if Mr Mensah accepted the settlement he would not be expected to work, was innocuous and did not amount to a dismissal or repudiatory breach. His resignation on 11 June 2018 was therefore not in response to a fundamental breach, and the tribunal also found that his delay in resigning and his intervening conduct amounted to affirmation of the contract. The breach of contract claim was dismissed.