Mr C Jamison v Rhino Design (Manchester) Limited — 2020

Mr Jamison brought a constructive unfair dismissal claim after his employment changed in 2017 from operations director on £100,000 to service director on £50,000 plus bonus/commission. The tribunal reviewed the contemporaneous documents and found that he accepted the re-engagement package, signed an objection limited to the performance allegation, signed the new contract on 29 January 2018, and then worked under those terms for about two years. It found no document showing that he was working under protest, under duress, or reserving the right to resign and claim constructive dismissal.

Applying the authorities it cited, including Western Excavating, Malik, Lewis, Omilaju, Kaur and Phoenix Academy Trust, the tribunal held that the claimant had affirmed the contract and delayed too long before resigning. It accepted that he was unhappy with the reduction in pay, but found the grievance materials showed his later complaints were directed mainly at the commission arrangement and his inability to make up the salary shortfall, rather than at any continuing repudiatory breach in 2017/2018.

The claimant relied on the delay in the grievance outcome as the final straw. The tribunal found that the respondent had kept him updated, had told him the outcome would be sent by 7 December 2019 or earlier if possible, and that the handbook timescale was guidance only. It held that the delay did not objectively amount to a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence and was an innocuous step in the grievance process rather than a qualifying last straw. The claim was therefore struck out under rule 37(1); if that conclusion had been wrong, the tribunal said it would have made a £350 deposit order under rule 39(1).