Atack Ms H Moran v Represented by: Mr M Allison - Solicitor Mr I McKenzie and 5 others — 2019

The claimant worked for the sixth respondent, The Royal Gourock Yacht Club, as head chef from 14 April 2014 until 16 November 2017 and was paid £8.59 per hour. Her hours were variable and fell below 20 in July and again in September 2017, which she said caused financial difficulty. The tribunal identified the central issue as whether she resigned on 9 November 2017 or was dismissed on 16 November 2017.

The tribunal found that on 7 November 2017 the claimant told Rita Keenan that she was resigning to take up a new job at the Bakehouse café and that Thursday would be her last shift. It found that the claimant then met Stephen Keenan and repeated that she was resigning, and that it was agreed she would work a week's notice. Mr Fairhurst later drafted and attempted to deliver a letter accepting her notice on 14 November, but the claimant said she had not resigned.

In deciding between the parties' accounts, the tribunal accepted the evidence of Rita Keenan and Stephen Keenan as credible and reliable and did not regard the claimant as wholly reliable on all matters. It took into account the absence of any convincing explanation for why the respondents would fabricate a resignation, the lack of evidence supporting the claimant's account of a job interview outcome, and the fact that the absence of Maida McNeill as a witness did not assist either side.

The tribunal concluded on the balance of probabilities that the claimant resigned and was not dismissed. On that basis, both the unfair dismissal claim and the breach of contract claim were dismissed, and no remedy was awarded.