In person For the v Respondent — 2024

Mrs R K Page brought a claim for constructive unfair dismissal against The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust. The tribunal said the claim depended on alleged breaches of the implied term of trust and confidence, including a series of matters relied on as individual breaches and a final straw said to be the handling of notice arrangements when she resigned in February 2023.

The tribunal rejected the claim on liability. It found there was no fundamental or repudiatory breach, that the Respondent had acted for reasonable and proper cause, and that several of the matters complained of had been addressed, resolved, or waived during the employment relationship. In particular, it found the earlier conflict with Ms de Villiers was a personality clash that was managed through meetings, separation at work, and mediation; the co-lead/title issue was corrected once raised; and the secondment to the Resuscitation Team was later agreed.

The tribunal also found the Claimant did not resign in response to the alleged breaches. It accepted the Respondent’s evidence that by 13 or 14 February 2023 she had already told her manager she had secured another job and wanted early release from her notice period. The events of 16 February 2023 and the later grievance about that incident were found to be irrelevant to the decision to leave because the resignation decision had already been made. The tribunal therefore dismissed the claim in its entirety.