Mr Mark Andrew Craven v Forrest Fresh Foods Limited — 2025

The tribunal, sitting as Employment Judge Leach with Mr J Flynn and Ms S Moores, unanimously held that the claimant was constructively and unfairly dismissed when he resigned on 3 February 2023 in response to the respondent's fundamental breaches of the implied term of trust and confidence. The claim was found to have been presented within the relevant time limit under section 111 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, rejecting the respondent's contention that the claimant had actually been dismissed in June 2022 and that the claim was out of time.

In reaching its conclusions, the tribunal considered a number of matters identified at case management, including the respondent's arrangements for covert surveillance and a covert vehicle tracker fitted to the claimant's car, and the respondent's handling (or non-handling) of the claimant's grievance. The tribunal concluded that the claimant had not affirmed the contract during the period between May 2022 and his resignation in February 2023, applying Chindove and noting that the claimant had been on sickness absence throughout, had made clear through his solicitors that he had not accepted the breach, and that there was nothing sustained by the respondent on which affirmation could have been based. The discovery of the vehicle tracker in December 2022 and the continuing failure to address the grievance were each capable of amounting to a last straw.

The tribunal declined to make any reduction to the compensatory award under section 123(6) ERA on the grounds of contributory conduct, rejecting the respondent's submission that the claimant was the architect of his own downfall. Because the respondent had failed to provide a grievance outcome and had not followed a compliant procedure, the tribunal decided that an uplift under section 207A TULR(C)A 1992 should be applied at 20%, less than the statutory maximum of 25% on account of some investigatory steps having been taken prior to mediation. Remedy, including arguments about what does and does not amount to earnings from employment, was reserved to a later hearing.