EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4106421/2023 Held at Aberdeen on 2, and April 2024 Employment Judge N M Hosie Mr Alan Croy v City Plumbing Supplies Holdings Limited — 2024

Mr Alan Croy worked for City Plumbing Supplies Holdings Ltd from 22 July 2018 as a Driver/Warehouse Assistant. He resigned on 10 August 2023, saying the situation had become intolerable and that he had been constructively dismissed. The tribunal recorded that he had spent periods off work with anxiety, depression and stress, and that he had raised grievances about vehicle tracking, removal from driving duties, the handling of a collective grievance, and later the Northern Bar incident. His first and third grievances were only partially upheld on statutory sick pay issues, which he said were not the reason for his resignation.

On the evidence, the tribunal preferred the accounts of Jim Ross, Christopher Paxton, Steven Bisset and Christopher Aston, who it found credible and reliable. It found that the vehicle tracking system was used for operational reasons because of delivery concerns and tachograph issues, and that the removal from driving duties after Mr Croy’s absence was explained by operational changes and the fact that Gary Brown performed the driving role more reliably. The tribunal rejected the allegation that management had set him up to be disliked, and it did not accept the claimant’s account of the Northern Bar incident, noting that he gave different versions of what happened and did not complain to the respondent until more than a year later.

Applying s.95(1)(c) ERA 1996 and the constructive dismissal authorities cited, including Western Excavating, Woods, Malik, Kaur and the affirmation cases, the tribunal held that the respondent’s conduct, whether considered individually or cumulatively, did not amount to a fundamental breach of the implied term of trust and confidence. It found there was no last straw in the unsuccessful grievance appeal and, in any event, that Mr Croy had affirmed the contract by remaining in communication with the respondent, attending meetings and pursuing internal processes before resigning. The claim was therefore dismissed.