EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL: Constructive dismissal
The Employment Tribunal held the employee had not been constructively dismissed. One of the complaints related to defects in the handling of the grievance procedure. The Tribunal held that they considered that the employers had acted unreasonably, but that applying the principle adopted in Abbey National plc v Fairbrother [2007] IRLR 320 the grievance had been handled in the way a reasonable employer could have dealt with it and accordingly there was no repudiatory breach of contract.
The EAT held that this was a conclusion which the Tribunal was entitled to reach on the evidence. Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed. Observations on the reasoning in the Fairbrother case.
Elias P observed by reference to Sharp, that it is well-established that unreasonable conduct alone is not enough to amount to a constructive dismissal.
Judges:
Elias J P
Citations:
[2008] UKEAT 0188 – 08 – 0407, [2008] IRLR 672, [2008] ICR 1267
Links:
Citing:
Cited – Abbey National Plc v Fairbrother EAT 12-Jan-2007
EAT Unfair Dismissal
Disability discrimination
The Tribunal had found a dismissal to be unfair because of flaws in a grievance procedure, following which the Claimant had resigned. They also found . .
Cited – London Borough of Waltham Forest v Omilaju CA 11-Nov-2004
Final Straw Act – Non-Trivial
The claimant had been involved in protracted disputes with the respondent. The respondent appealed a finding of constructive dismissal and victimisation. He had attended a tribunal hearing and the employer had refused to pay his salary whilst he was . .
Cited – GAB Robins (UK) Ltd v Triggs CA 30-Jan-2008
The claimant had been awarded damages for unfair constructive dismissal. The employer appealed an award of damages for the period prior to the acceptance by the employee of the repudiatory breach.
Held: Where a claimant’s losses arose before . .
Cited – Western Excavating (ECC) Ltd v Sharp CA 1978
To succeed in a claim for constructive dismissal the plaintiff must establish a breach of contract by the defendant, that the breach was sufficiently serious to have justified the claimant resigning, or at least be the last in a series of events . .
Cited – Pedersen v Camden London Borough Council CA 1981
The test for determining whether there has been a repudiatory breach of contract sufficient to entitle the employee to leave and claim constructive dismissal is an objective one to be determined by the Tribunal itself. The Employment Appeal Tribunal . .
Cited – GAB Robins (UK) Ltd v Triggs EAT 13-Jun-2007
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL
Constructive dismissal
Compensation
Last straw constructive unfair dismissal. Last straw; employer’s failure to deal properly with her grievance – Constructive dismissal . .
Cited – Hamilton v Tandberg Televison Ltd EAT 12-Dec-2002
The applicant claimed unfair constructive dismissal.
Held: The appeal failed. McMullen QC J said: ‘It is suggested that the Employment Tribunal erred in law in failing to condemn the investigation. The standard against which investigation . .
Cited – W A Goold (Pearmak) Ltd v McConnell and Another EAT 28-Apr-1995
It is an implied term in a contract of employment that employers should reasonably and promptly afford employees a reasonable opportunity to obtain redress of any grievance. Morison J said: ‘It is clear therefore that Parliament considered that good . .
Cited – J Sainsbury Ltd v Hitt; Orse Sainsburys Supermarkets Limited v Hitt CA 18-Oct-2002
Reasobaleness of Investigation Judged Objectively
The employer appealed against a decision that it had unfairly dismissed the respondent. The majority of the Employment Tribunal had decided that the employers had not carried out a reasonable investigation into the employee’s alleged misconduct . .
Cited – Malik v Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI); Mahmud v Bank of Credit and Commerce International HL 12-Jun-1997
Allowance of Stigma Damages
The employees claimed damages, saying that the way in which their employer had behaved during their employment had led to continuing losses, ‘stigma damages’ after the termination.
Held: It is an implied term of any contract of employment that . .
Cited – Yeboah v Crofton CA 31-May-2002
The industrial tribunal had made a finding of direct race discrimination. The Employment Appeal Tribunal found the decision perverse, and ordered a rehearing. The applicant appealed that order.
Held: The EAT must be careful not to take . .
Cited by:
Cited – Bournemouth University Higher Education Corp v Buckland EAT 8-May-2009
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL: Constructive dismissal
Whether fundamental breach of implied term of trust and confidence cured, so that the Claimant’s resignation did not amount to constructive dismissal.
Cited – Buckland v Bournemouth University Higher Education Corporation CA 24-Feb-2010
The claimant had been dismissed from his post as chair of archeology after criticism of his marking practices. Though a report vindicated him, the respondent continued with disciplinary procedures. He claimed unfair dismissal. The EAT had allowed . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.270725