Ms Sandra Martin v Custom Pharmaceuticals Limited — 2026

Ms Sandra Martin brought a single complaint of unfair dismissal. Her case was that she submitted a resignation letter on 29 July 2025, then emailed her manager and the HR Department two days later to withdraw it, but the respondent did not allow her to withdraw the resignation and her employment ended. She said the resignation was made when she was under significant emotional pressure and in poor health. The respondent disputed that it was obliged to accept the withdrawal and applied to strike out the claim for having no reasonable prospects of success.

The tribunal noted the orthodox position that unambiguous words of resignation will normally end the contract of employment and that an employer is generally under no obligation to allow withdrawal. It referred to Sovereign House Security Services Ltd v Savage and Kwik-Fit (GB) Ltd v Lineham as the authorities on the possibility of special circumstances where a tribunal may find that there was in fact no resignation despite appearances to the contrary. The tribunal also recorded that there was no suggestion of an alternative constructive dismissal case.

The judge was not satisfied that the papers established there were no special circumstances in this case. That issue needed to be explored at a hearing rather than decided on the application. Given the relatively high threshold for striking out a claim on the papers and the desirability of a public hearing, the application to strike out was refused. The judgment did not determine liability on the unfair dismissal claim and made no remedy award.