Russell Whitlow v Sytner Group Limited — 2021

The claimant, Russell Whitlow, brought a breach of contract complaint arising from the termination of his employment with Sytner Group Limited on 27 February 2020. The tribunal heard evidence from the claimant, Timothy Sett and Jessica Billing, and preferred the respondent’s account of the key events. It found that the claimant had been employed since May 2019, was required to give three months’ notice, and was facing a disciplinary hearing over an invoicing issue when he resigned.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had resigned on 27 February 2020 and that the resignation was discussed with Mr Sett before the disciplinary hearing due that afternoon. Although the resignation letter referred to personal circumstances and a return to the USA, the tribunal found it likely that the claimant attended work that day intending to avoid the disciplinary hearing by resigning with immediate effect. It also found that the respondent’s later acceptance letter and internal emails were consistent with an immediate resignation, even though the respondent contributed to confusion by not obtaining a clearer alternative resignation letter and by not acknowledging the immediate resignation unequivocally.

On the balance of probabilities, the tribunal found that the parties agreed to cut short the notice period, which relieved the claimant of the obligation to work notice and relieved the respondent of the obligation to pay notice pay. It therefore held that there was no unilateral breach by the respondent. The complaint of breach of contract was not well founded and was dismissed. No monetary award was made.