unrepresented For the v Respondent — 2023

The claimant was employed as a 3D lecturer in Art and Design at the CBAT building. He complained over a number of years about lack of resources, PPE, safe storage, the unavailability of the welding room, flooding in G27, and the handling of his grievance. The tribunal found that there had been repeated delays and failures in some of those areas, but it held that most of the alleged omissions were not repudiatory breaches because the respondent had reasonable and proper cause, including budgetary constraints, repeated repair attempts, and problems with RT's performance.

On the grievance issue, the tribunal found that the respondent had not dealt with the claimant's own grievance of 5 October 2020. It held that the investigation and report largely addressed RT's grievance, did not properly investigate the claimant's complaints, and did not provide the records and outcome required by the grievance procedure. Applying the constructive dismissal authorities cited in the judgment, including Western Excavating, Malik, Lewis, Omilaju, Kaur, Cockram and W A Goold, the tribunal concluded that this failure was a repudiatory breach and an effective cause of the claimant's resignation. It accepted that he resigned on 11 August 2021 in response to the unresolved problems and had not affirmed the contract.

The tribunal also held, in the alternative, that the cumulative course of conduct amounted to constructive dismissal, with the August 2021 flooding in G27 operating as the last straw. It accepted that there was a flood on 8 or 9 August 2021, but found that the respondent had made repeated efforts to address the leaks and that the event occurred during the summer break. The separate s100 ERA 1996 automatically unfair dismissal claim failed because the claimant did not reasonably believe there were circumstances of serious and imminent danger, and because he was not dismissed for leaving or refusing to return to work or for taking protective steps. No compensation was determined in this judgment, and a remedy hearing was listed for 18 January 2024.