Ms D Phipps v The Sovereign Trust — 2021

The tribunal held that Ms Phipps was constructively unfairly dismissed and that her resignation was also a wrongful dismissal. It found a cumulative breach of the implied term of trust and confidence in the way Sovereign managed the disciplinary and grievance process, including the handling of the 22 May 2018 water incident, the resurrection of the earlier swearing incident, the confused handling of the 11 June meeting, and the repeated failure to correct procedural errors.

The tribunal accepted that the initial suspension was a reasonable immediate response to a potential safeguarding concern and that the suspension was lifted quickly. It found, however, that the investigation into both incidents was inadequate: there was no proper fact-finding, the context was not properly considered, and the earlier swearing incident was inappropriately folded into the later disciplinary process against Ms Phipps alone. The grievance was raised properly, but it was not dealt with promptly or coherently, and the disciplinary and appeal stages showed little willingness to engage with the procedural complaints.

The whistleblowing complaints failed except in one respect. The tribunal held that the emails of 25 May, 5 June, 11 June and 25 June 2018 did not amount to protected disclosures, but that the 18 July 2018 appeal email did disclose information that could amount to a protected disclosure concerning safeguarding and possible legal or health and safety obligations. Even so, it found no detriment under section 47B and no automatic unfair dismissal under section 103A because the respondent's decision to uphold the final written warning was not caused by that disclosure.

The tribunal said an ACAS uplift at the maximum 25% was warranted because of the repeated failures to comply with the ACAS Code of Practice. It found no contributory fault by Ms Phipps and said it was doubtful that a fair process would have led to dismissal. The case was listed for a remedy hearing to quantify the successful constructive unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal claims.