Claimant v IT Governance Ltd and IT Governance Ltd v Mr J Pearson — 2020

Mr Pearson worked as a Business Development Manager from 1 November 2012 until 3 October 2018. The tribunal found that, after a July 2018 discussion about a possible Global Head of Major Accounts role, Alan Calder was only sounding him out rather than offering him the role. It preferred Mr Calder's evidence on the 25 July conversation and found that Mr Pearson resigned on 3 September 2018 because he had decided to set up his own business, not because of any repudiatory breach by the respondent.

The tribunal also rejected the claimant's alternative case that events during the informal grievance discussion on 25 September 2018, and a later discussion with Bill Bailey, entitled him to resign again on 3 October 2018. It held that the respondent's handling of the grievance, and the reminder about restrictive covenants, did not amount to a breach of contract. On the facts found, Mr Pearson resigned because he could not secure the short notice arrangement he wanted and wanted to leave to pursue his own business.

Mr Pearson succeeded only on his contractual commission claim for September 2018. The tribunal found there was no express or implied term, including by custom and practice, allowing the respondent to withhold commission on existing accounts during the notice period, and awarded £3,653.73 for unpaid commission relating to Inmarsat and Norton Rose Fulbright. The respondent's counterclaims both failed: the tribunal accepted jurisdiction over the clause 4.3.1 counterclaim under Article 4(c) of the Employment Tribunal Extension of Contract Jurisdiction Order 1994, but found no sufficient proof of breach or loss, and it likewise rejected the claim for losses said to arise from Mr Pearson not working until 2 December 2018.