Mr C Piscopo v D Walton Ltd — 2019

Mr C Piscopo resigned from D Walton Ltd on 28 September 2018 after being suspended and invited to a disciplinary hearing over missing tyre checks on a number of job cards. He brought a constructive unfair dismissal claim, saying the respondent had unjustifiably pursued disciplinary proceedings, had predetermined the outcome, and had effectively blamed him for quality-control failings that were not his responsibility. The tribunal’s task was therefore to decide whether the respondent had committed a repudiatory breach of contract, including by breaching the implied term of trust and confidence.

The tribunal accepted the respondent’s case that quality control formed part of the claimant’s role, despite his title of Workshop Controller. It relied on the signed 2017 contract, the job description, the claimant’s salary of £37,000, the paperwork he had designed, and the evidence that he had long been signing off job cards as part of the vehicle release process. It also accepted the respondent’s evidence that the claimant had effectively been performing that QC function and had asked for assistance in the form of JA, who was brought in to support the process.

On the investigation and disciplinary process, the tribunal found the 11 September minutes to be relatively accurate in the relevant respects and did not accept that they were manipulated to engineer dismissal. It held that the claimant’s complaint about the minutes did not establish a breach of contract, and that the respondent had reasonable and proper cause to investigate after the tyre issue came to light. The tribunal also rejected the argument that the process had been predetermined: an independent HR consultant, Helen Christie, was appointed to conduct the disciplinary process, and the claimant’s concerns about fairness were described as flimsy in the circumstances.

The tribunal likewise rejected the claimant’s reliance on the respondent’s contact with recruitment agencies. It accepted that the respondent had made those enquiries after the suspension in order to avoid a period without workshop-control cover, and found that the claimant had jumped the gun by resigning rather than raising the issue and seeking an explanation. Overall, the tribunal found no fundamental breach of contract and dismissed the constructive unfair dismissal claim. It added, for completeness, that if the claimant had been dismissed the respondent would have had a potential case, but consistency concerns arose because Jason Gough had also signed off one of the affected jobs without action being taken against him.