Sylwia Andrysiak-Szymenderski v XPO Logistics — 2023

The claimant alleged that, after returning from maternity leave, the respondent fundamentally breached her contract by asking her to sign a replacement contract, by comments made by her line manager, and by the handling and refusal of a flexible working request. The tribunal found that the replacement contract was not materially different from the original and did not disadvantage the claimant.

The tribunal found that one comment by the line manager, "thanks for popping in", was an unwarranted sarcastic remark made in front of colleagues and was likely to seriously damage the employment relationship. It found this amounted to a repudiatory breach of contract and that it materially influenced the claimant's resignation, although the principal reason for resignation was the refusal of the flexible working request.

The tribunal found that the flexible working request was dealt with within the statutory three-month period, was not handled unreasonably slowly, and was refused for legitimate operational reasons falling within section 80G of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The constructive dismissal claim was dismissed because the claimant affirmed the contract by continuing to work, engaging with the flexible working process, and agreeing to work two weeks beyond her contractual notice period before leaving.