Miss Leigh has been working as an in-house accountant for a national company for two years. Miss Leigh is generally unhappy with her treatment at work. One day, her manager hurls a tirade of abuse at Miss Leigh in front of her colleagues about a minor error she has supposedly made. Miss Leigh continues to work for her employer without raising a grievance and accepts a new project. One month later, she resigns with immediate effect, giving the abuse she was subjected to by her manager as the reason. She then lodges a claim to the employment tribunal for constructive and unfair dismissal.
Miss Leigh’s legal representatives help prove the tirade of abuse constituted a fundamental breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence and that she could communicate that breach to her employer by resigning. The company argues that Miss Leigh’s delay in resigning and her acceptance of another project mean she waived her rights to claim. However, the tribunal finds she accepted the new project as she was given no choice by her employer, and her delay in resigning was not significant enough to prove she had waived the breach of the implied term. It further finds that the reason for her dismissal (the abuse that led to her resignation) was for making a minor error and that reason was unfair. Miss Leigh wins her claim for constructive and unfair dismissal and is awarded compensation for loss of earnings. She is also awarded a sum of money to reflect the fact she will have to work for a period of two continuous years to gain the right not to be unfairly dismissed again, and a basic award based on a set formula.
Miss Leigh is not legally represented. The company’s legal representatives persuade Miss Leigh that the tirade of abuse may not constitute a fundamental breach of contract and, even if it were wrong, she would be unsuccessful because of her delay in resigning. Miss Leigh feels she cannot continue with her case and withdraws her claim.
Miss Leigh’s legal representatives persuade the company the tirade of abuse is undoubtedly a fundamental breach – particularly as it occurred in in front of her colleagues. They also persuade the company that she resigned due to these circumstances, and, on balance, it was likely an employment tribunal would accept a one-month delay was too short for them to accept that she waived the breach. The company agrees to a settlement payment if Miss Leigh keeps the terms of the agreement confidential. They also agree a reference to be provided to Miss Leigh’s potential future employer upon request. This is incorporated into the agreement and signed by both parties.