: V. Lockhart N. Richardson. v Mr James Marshall McPherson Limited — 2024

The claimant, an HGV driver at the respondent's Grissan Riverside work, resigned on 20 December 2023 after disputing the effect of changes at the plant, the handling of his complaints, and the respondent's investigation of those complaints. The Tribunal treated the case as a constructive dismissal claim under section 95(1)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and asked whether the respondent had committed a repudiatory breach, including by destroying trust and confidence.

The Tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence about two historic incidents in 2017: exposure to caustic steam at Glenlossie and an overhead power lines incident at Allanbuie. It considered that the respondent's handling of those matters was incomplete and that the respondent should have done better, particularly by keeping fuller written records and clarifying the outcome of the investigations, but it held that those incidents did not amount to repudiatory breaches by themselves.

On the events leading to resignation, the Tribunal found that the claimant's difficulties taking breaks were real, but they had existed for a long time and he had not raised them formally with management. It also found that he had been manipulating tachograph records to show breaks that he had not in fact taken, so the respondent's managers did not know the true position. The sending of another driver to observe the night shift was not itself a repudiatory act, and the delay in concluding the investigation was justified in the circumstances. The Tribunal held that the claimants' reasons for resigning did not establish constructive dismissal and dismissed the claim.