Mrs S N Laique v Al Iman Community Educational Services Ltd. — 2023

The claimant brought a single unfair dismissal claim arising from the end of her second period of employment with Al Iman Community Educational Services Ltd. The tribunal accepted that the key issue was whether she was dismissed on 27 November 2021, as she alleged, or whether she resigned voluntarily, as the respondent contended.

The tribunal found that the claimant had told the respondent on 18 November 2021 that she was too unwell to work on Saturday 20 November, but later attended a scout hike on that day. It accepted the contents of the WhatsApp/text exchange showing that she said she had taken a day off, was pretending not to be well, and was volunteering for scouts. It also found that on 22 November she sent a message saying she could no longer work Saturdays and needed to resign, which the tribunal treated as a valid resignation with notice.

On 27 November, the tribunal found that the meeting with Ms Khera and Ms Mushtaq was not merely a chat, but was akin to an investigation meeting into the scout hike. It held that there was no statutory right to accompaniment to such a meeting and that it was not unreasonable for the respondent to hold it on that day. After the meeting, the tribunal accepted that the claimant returned her ID badge and later threw her headscarf out of her car window, and it concluded that these actions were those of an employee resigning and not intending to return. It did not accept that removal from WhatsApp groups amounted to dismissal, or that being sent home on full pay was a dismissal.

The tribunal therefore held that the claimant resigned without notice by her actions on 27 November 2021 and that there was no dismissal. It added that, if it had been wrong about resignation, it would have found the respondent entitled to treat the claimant's conduct as gross misconduct and applied Polkey to reduce any damages by 100%. The unfair dismissal claim was dismissed. The tribunal also dealt with the respondent's costs application by directions only; no costs award was recorded in this judgment.