Mr Tahzib, counsel For the v Respondent — 2022

The claimant had worked for the respondent as a domestic assistant since 31 October 2006 and resigned on 7 May 2020. The tribunal found that the dispute centred on a meeting on 5 May 2020, after the claimant had been absent with suspected Covid-19 symptoms and had returned to work the same day after a risk assessment. The meeting also covered the claimant's comment about raising PPE concerns with the CQC.

The tribunal preferred the claimant's account of what occurred at that meeting. It found that Mr Tripp accused the claimant of lying to his GP, lying about having Covid, and falsifying doctor's notes, shouted at him, pointed his finger in his face, told him he would be 'on his back every 5 minutes', and later replied 'I don't care' when the claimant said he was leaving. The tribunal accepted that there was no reasonable and proper cause for those accusations or for the aggressive manner in which they were made.

Applying the implied term of trust and confidence, the tribunal held that Mr Tripp's conduct on 5 May 2020 was likely to destroy or seriously damage that relationship and amounted to a repudiatory breach of contract. It found that the claimant resigned in response to that breach within two days and had not affirmed the contract by delaying.

The tribunal then held that the claimant had been dismissed within s.95 ERA 1996 and that the dismissal was unfair because the respondent had not identified a fair reason for dismissal. It rejected the respondent's contribution argument, finding no blameworthy or culpable conduct by the claimant contributing to the dismissal. Liability was therefore upheld and remedy was left for a separate hearing.