Dawn Farnell v Tesco Stores Ltd — 2021

The claimant resigned from her checkout manager role on 2 December 2019 and alleged that a series of incidents involving her line manager, the handling of disciplinary investigations, and the grievance outcome breached the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. The respondent denied that she had been dismissed and denied the alleged ill-treatment.

The tribunal found that the claimant had not established that she was subjected to the treatment she described from her line manager. Witness evidence gathered during the grievance investigation did not corroborate her allegations, and the tribunal found on balance that the alleged shouting, humiliation, threats or belittling did not occur as claimed.

The tribunal found that two disciplinary investigations were warranted, although the second process was mismanaged, and that this did not amount to conduct contributing to a breach of the implied duty of trust and confidence. It also found the grievance investigation was thorough and that the conclusion reached was open to the investigator. The tribunal therefore found that the claimant resigned and was not dismissed, so the unfair and wrongful dismissal claims were dismissed.