Mr Emslie-Smith, Counsel For the v Respondent — 2021

Mr Michael Sullivan had worked for Anglian Windows Limited since around June 2003. The dispute arose during the Covid-19 period after he was moved between work areas, including an instruction on 30 March 2021 to work on the window line. He argued with managers in the office, was told that leaving site would be treated as unexcused absence, left the premises, and then exchanged a series of emails with HR in late March and April 2021 before resigning on 30 April 2021.

The tribunal preferred the evidence of the Respondent's witnesses and found the Claimant unreliable and dishonest on material points. It accepted that the Respondent had introduced Covid precautions, including zoning, staggered starts, sanitiser and social distancing, and noted that the Health and Safety Executive had been impressed with what it saw. The tribunal found that the instruction to move work area was reasonable, that the managers' responses were firm but not unreasonable, and that there was no intention not to deal with the Claimant's concerns or grievance.

The constructive unfair dismissal claim failed because the tribunal held that the Respondent's conduct did not amount to a fundamental breach of contract or a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence. The health and safety claims also failed: the tribunal found that the principal reason for the Claimant's resignation was not health and safety, that he had not shown circumstances of danger which he reasonably believed to be serious and imminent, and that the delays in HR handling did not make the Respondent's conduct unlawful. No remedy was awarded.