Constructive Dismissal
A McDonalds branch in Birmingham has had to have its burger and eat it after the manger was caught on video discriminating against black employees. The manager, Mr Khela, cut the hours of the branch’s 20 black employees due to apparent underperformance. When confronted by an employee he insisted this was store policy. Mr Khela […]
This is the first Tribunal decision involving e-cigarettes in the workplace. E-cigarettes are a bit of a hazy issue for employers so we hope this week’s case will clear the air a little. The question this week is whether being suspended for smoking an e-cigarette amounts to constructive dismissal? Ms Insley, the Claimant, was […]
It’s trite law that, in order to bring a successful constructive dismissal claim, the resignation must be in response to the breach. It is therefore imperative that employees do not delay in resigning. In the EAT case of Mr Chindove v Morrisons the Claimant resigned 6 weeks after the alleged breach. The ET held that […]
Constructive unfair dismissal claims inevitably involve a Tribunal identifying the reason or reasons for the resignation. The EAT case of Mrs S Logan v Celyn House Ltd reminds us of the principle established in the Meikle case [2005], that the Tribunal should not look for a principal reason but should consider all contributory reasons. In […]
To win a claim of constructive unfair dismissal a Claimant must demonstrate fundamental breach of contract and that they resigned in response to the breach (without delaying too long). In the Tribunal case of Mr Morgan v Halls of Gloucester, Mr Morgan’s claim of constructive unfair dismissal was dismissed. The Tribunal found that two acts […]
Buzzacott L.L.P. v Mrs Ellis reported on the E.A.T. website is a salutary reminder that employers must not be too heavy handed in trying to warn off an employee from lodging a grievance or threatening them with disciplinary action if a grievance appeal is unsuccesful.
The EAT in the case of Mr J Fasuyi and Compass Contract Services (UK) Ltd have clarified that the raising of a grievance in a constructive dismissal case (in this case, by way of a petition of staff) does not affirm the contract (as found by the Tribunal) but is purely what it says on […]
EAT decisions on what is capable of amounting to repudiatory conduct for the purposes of bringing a constructive unfair dismissal claim are always helpful as it is such a big bold step for an employee to take that, in recommending such a course of action, we need to be confident that a successful claim will […]
It is always a brave employee who resigns in the expectation of being able to bring a successful constructive unfair dismissal claim. The need to be able to demonstrate a repudiatory breach of a term of the contract, particularly if relying upon breach of an implied term such as that of trust and confidence, is […]
This case at the EAT is an example of the sort of Tribunal decision that could give rise to a successful appeal on the basis that the reasons of the Tribunal weren’t expressed sufficiently. Tribunals must give the parties sufficient reasons for them to understand why they won or lost. In this case, those reasons […]
In this case a Professor marked exam scripts and 12 students failed the exam. The University was concerned about this high number of fails and another member of the academic team re-marked the papers. The fact that this re-mark happened without consultation with the Professor amounted to a breach of the implied term of trust […]
An interesting constructive dismissal claim has recently been decided by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Edinburgh looking at what can and cannot amount to a last straw entitling an employee to treat their employment contract as discharged following a series of failures by their employer. In this case the Employment Tribunal had found for the employee […]
