Miss Jemma Rowe v Sammyjo Pearson t/a Longlox Hair Extensions — 2019

The tribunal rejected the claimant’s allegations that Matthew Pearson sexually harassed her on 06 April 2019 at the Glasshouse. It found that no touching occurred, that the complaint had been manufactured, and that the related allegation that Bev Pearson witnessed the conduct and failed to act also failed. The tribunal further found that there was no basis for the allegation that Matthew Pearson watched CCTV footage of the claimant undressing in the staff room. The complaints of sexual harassment and direct sex discrimination were therefore dismissed.

On the constructive dismissal claim, the tribunal found that the claimant knew a CCTV camera existed in the staff room but did not know that the audio facility had been covertly activated. It found that Bev Pearson activated audio in April 2019 without telling staff, and that this, viewed objectively, was conduct likely to seriously damage trust and confidence. The tribunal also found that the later addition of allegations about the claimant’s general behaviour, the phone call with her boyfriend, and tanning injections, together with the obtaining of negative staff statements, were part of the same repudiatory course of conduct.

However, the tribunal held that the claimant had affirmed the contract before resigning. By the end of July 2019 she knew the material facts, including the allegations and the existence of audio recording, but she continued to engage with the disciplinary process, attended the disciplinary hearing on 05 September 2019, and only resigned on 09 September 2019. The alleged last straw, namely that Paula Barclay told her Matthew Pearson had watched her on CCTV in the staff room, was not found to have happened. The complaint of unfair constructive dismissal was therefore dismissed, and no remedy was awarded.