Mrs C Joshi v Ocado Central Services Limited — 2024

The claimant worked as a project manager for the respondent and alleged constructive unfair dismissal arising from matters including flexible working arrangements, work allocation, the conduct of her line manager, and a meeting on 31 January 2023. The tribunal found that the flexible working agreement remained in place and was not breached when the claimant agreed to attend the office two days a week for a handover period. It also found that the claimant had not proved that she was allocated less work than colleagues or that her line manager had thwarted her promotion.

The 31 January 2023 meeting was central to the unfair dismissal claim. The majority accepted that the claimant received negative feedback and low ratings, but found that the process was an informal appraisal, that the manager's assessment was a reasonable exercise of managerial discretion, and that the claimant's resignation followed without giving the respondent an opportunity to address her challenge. The majority held that the respondent had not breached the implied term of trust and confidence, so there was no constructive dismissal. Mr Sagar dissented, finding that the conduct around that meeting breached the implied term and that the dismissal would have been unfair.

The age discrimination and harassment complaints were dismissed. The tribunal found that Mrs Turlapati did not refuse to listen to the claimant or cut her off because of age, that work allocation by Mrs Tirumalasetti was not because of age, and that the alleged comment referring to being older was not made. The notice pay claim was dismissed because the claimant had been paid for her notice period, and the unauthorised deductions claim was dismissed after withdrawal.