Ms A Newman v Myerscough College Further Education Corporation — 2023

Ms Newman was employed from 1 September 2010 as a BSL Communicator/Instructor. In January 2022, after returning from sickness absence, she was told she would not be working in the L2 Motorsport class because the student she had supported had left that course. The tribunal found she had no contractual right to remain in motorsport, that Sylvia Dempsey was appointed to a lower-paid Inclusive Learning Advisor role rather than taking over the claimant's BSL role, and that the respondent was entitled to allocate work by student need.

The tribunal rejected the claimant's case that the January events, the telephone call with Mr Lovatt-Staines, the wording of the investigation outcome, the grievance handling, or the 19 July 2022 out-of-office reply from Mr Downham-Clarke amounted individually or cumulatively to a breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. It found Mr Staines did not disregard her concerns or pressure her into leaving, that Ms Hartley addressed the substance of the grievance concerns even where she used different wording, and that the appeal officer was carrying out further investigations when he went on leave.

As a result, the claim for unfair dismissal based on constructive dismissal failed, and the linked wrongful dismissal claim for notice pay failed with it. The holiday pay claim was dismissed because the claimant accepted she had been paid holiday pay and did not evidence any shortfall, and the unlawful deduction of wages claim failed because she was paid through January 2022 and, from 1 February 2022 to 19 July 2022, she was absent without authorisation and the tribunal applied the no work no pay principle.