Mr D Gunn v SapproUK Limited — 2021

Mr Gunn resigned on 9 July 2020 and claimed that a series of acts and omissions by SapproUK Ltd had breached the implied term of trust and confidence. The tribunal treated the case as a constructive dismissal claim under s.95(1)(c) ERA 1996 and applied the authorities on repudiatory breach, last straw conduct, causation, affirmation, and the implied term of trust and confidence, including Malik and Mahmud, Western Excavating, and Kaur.

The tribunal rejected the allegation that the respondent failed to protect the claimant during the Covid-19 pandemic. It found that the workplace already allowed social distancing, sanitizer was provided, and there was no evidence of any staff member contracting Covid-19 at work. It also rejected the complaint that the appointment of Mark Usher as COO, and the fact that the claimant was not invited to apply for that role, was a breach of contract or trust and confidence.

On duties, the tribunal found that the claimant was never actually responsible for recruitment in the way pleaded, and that the 13 May 2020 email from Mr Usher simply asked him to concentrate on buying while Mr Usher dealt with applications. It also found no unilateral contractual change in relation to the traffic-light issue, and accepted that although the claimant’s line management changed so that he reported to Mr Usher, that change was reasonable and proper in the context of Mr Moxon stepping back from day-to-day operational control.

The tribunal further held that the emails on 20 June 2020 and the exchange on 8 July 2020 did not amount to public criticism or belittling conduct. It found that Mr Moxon had reasonable and proper cause to raise the underlying operational issues, that the claimant’s reactions were themselves tetchy, and that the 8 July email exchange was no more than a short disagreement. Looking at the alleged incidents cumulatively, the tribunal held there was no repudiatory breach, no constructive dismissal, and the claim was dismissed.