Mrs A Wallace v Represented by Mr R Miller Solicitor VTech SMT Ltd — 2019

The claimant worked for the respondent from 2 March 2015. After a grievance and disputes about holiday accrual and pay dates, she met Mr Hetman, Ms Hetman and Mr Walker on 10 September 2018. The tribunal accepted that the meeting became heated, that the claimant challenged Mr Hetman about what had previously been said, and that she then said that they had got what they wanted and that she was leaving and not coming back. It also accepted that she removed personal items from her desk and left the building.

The claimant then wrote a letter dated 11 September 2018 resigning with one month’s notice to 11 October and saying that she had felt humiliated, worthless, anxious and unsettled. The respondent replied that she had not been dismissed and that her position would be held open. It later wrote again on 24 October 2018 saying that the position had been held open until 31 October. The tribunal did not accept the claimant’s evidence that she had telephoned Mr Walker about her sickness absence, but it accepted that she had been stressed and had produced a fit note.

On the evidence as a whole, the tribunal preferred the claimant on most points about what happened at the meeting, but held that she had resigned in the heat of the moment on 10 September 2018 rather than by the later written letter. It therefore found that the effective date of termination was 10 September 2018. Because the claim was lodged on 7 February 2019, it was out of time, the tribunal had no jurisdiction, and the claim was dismissed. The tribunal also rejected the respondent’s notice-period argument as irrelevant to the effective date question.