Mr S Chadwick v Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Limited — 2019

The claimant applied for reconsideration of the Tribunal's earlier judgment, sent to the parties on 25 October 2016, which had dismissed his constructive unfair dismissal claim under rule 37 on the basis that it had no reasonable prospects of success. The earlier decision turned on whether the meeting on 19 December 2015 with Mr McKendry could amount to a last straw for the purposes of the constructive dismissal complaint.

The Tribunal accepted that the claimant should be permitted to raise his further point on reconsideration, given the unusual circumstances in which the rule 37 issue had been raised during the hearing and the fact that he was unrepresented. It considered his argument that he would have viewed a meeting with the store manager, Julia Blackett, differently from a meeting with deputy manager Alex McKendry because of their different roles in relation to disciplinary matters.

The Tribunal concluded that the additional point would not have changed the earlier decision. It found that, even accepting the claimant's account at its highest, the 19 December meeting arose from a legitimate management concern about outstanding performance reviews, was instigated by Ms Blackett, and that the claimant's reaction was principally to Mr McKendry personally rather than to the content or circumstances of the meeting. The Tribunal therefore dismissed the application for reconsideration and confirmed the earlier judgment.