Mr L Black v Caledonian Automatic Transmissions Ltd — 2025

Mr L Black was employed by Caledonian Automatic Transmissions Ltd as a mechanic. The tribunal heard evidence about an altercation on 21 February 2025, a short meeting and suspension on 24 February, and a further meeting on 25 February. It found that the claimant, Mr Tierney and Mr Galloway were all aggressive during the 21 February incident, but that the later 24 February suspension had no reasonable or proper cause and was serious enough to damage the employment relationship. The tribunal treated the 25 February meeting as a final straw because the respondent had a closed view of the claimant’s concerns about Mr Galloway and offered no real proposal to resolve the matter.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant resigned on 28 March 2025 in response to the February events and did not affirm the contract during the period before resignation. It held that the 21 February suspension alone was not a fundamental breach, and that it did not need to decide the wider allegations of bullying and threats because the breaches on 24 and 25 February were sufficient. On that basis, the claimant succeeded in his constructive unfair dismissal claim under section 95(1)(c) ERA 1996, applying the authorities it cited on constructive dismissal, trust and confidence, and the last straw doctrine.

On remedy, the tribunal awarded a basic award of £3,100 and a compensatory award of £8,689.22. It rejected the respondent’s submissions on Polkey, contributory fault, failure to mitigate, and any ACAS-code reduction. The claimant was 24 years old with five complete years of service and a gross weekly wage of £620; the compensatory award was calculated by reference to net loss, including periods of universal credit, freelance software work, and SASS payments, and the tribunal found the losses were attributable to the dismissal. Separately, the respondent conceded that it had failed to provide written particulars of employment, and the tribunal made a just and equitable award of £1,860, being three weeks’ pay, under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002.