EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL: Constructive dismissal
STATUTORY DISCIPLINE AND GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES: Whether infringed
The Respondent committed a repudiatory breach of the Claimant’s contract of employment. The Claimant elected to wait until receipt of a letter the Respondent promised to send and provided a written grievance in accordance with s32 of the Employment Act 2002 and the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004. The grievance referred to the matters giving rise to the repudiatory breach. The promised letter amounted to a further breach of his contract of employment. The Claimant accepted the earlier repudiatory breach on receipt of this letter. In cross-examination the Claimant said that the receipt of the letter was the trigger or last straw which led to his accepting the repudiatory breach, and the Employment Tribunal accepted his evidence in this regard. The Respondent argued that the Employment Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to hear the claim because the grievance did not refer to the receipt of the letter as a ‘last straw’. The Employment Tribunal held that the Claimant was under no obligation to refer to the letter in his grievance because it was merely the occasion that led him to accept the earlier repudiatory breach which had not been waived. The EAT upheld this decision.
Citations:
[2008] UKEAT 0090 – 08 – 0809
Links:
Citing:
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 – Shergold v Fieldway Medical Centre EAT 5-Dec-2005
The claimant had submitted a grievance complaining in general terms of the way in which she had been treated by a manager. She did not, however, refer to a particular incident relied on in her pleading as one of the two ‘last straw’ incidents that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 19 July 2022; Ref: scu.273205