In Person For the v Respondent — 2024

The claimant was employed by the respondent nursery from 1995 until her employment ended on 28 April 2023. She alleged that the respondent constructively unfairly dismissed her by making a unilateral decision to demote her from the Under 2's Room Leader role. The respondent denied that she had been dismissed and said there had been a misunderstanding about a proposed reassignment.

The tribunal found that the respondent's actions on 18 November 2022 amounted to a repudiatory breach and that the claimant had not expressly or implicitly affirmed that breach. It accepted that she continued working while the respondent attempted to repair the relationship, and that she resigned when it became clear this would not happen because of the effect on her health.

The tribunal concluded that there was a dismissal as a matter of law and that the dismissal was unfair. It was not satisfied that capability was the principal reason, and in any event found that the respondent had not acted reasonably because it failed to warn the claimant, gave her inadequate chance to improve, failed to produce cogent evidence of performance failings, and did not apply its own policy.