Employment Tribunal Rules in Favour of Worker in Unfair Dismissal Claim Against Interaction Recruitment Specialists Ltd

The tribunal found that Ms N Hanson had worked as a Northern Regional Operations Manager for Hamilton Mayday since April 2003. After Hamilton Mayday went into administration in August 2023, the respondent, Interaction Recruitment Specialists Ltd, acquired the business in September 2023. The tribunal found that the claimant's employment transferred to the new company under TUPE.

On 26 September 2023, the tribunal heard that Mr A Gilchrist, a director of the respondent, visited the Scunthorpe office. The tribunal found that the claimant arrived late for work due to a medical appointment. The tribunal found that the claimant attempted to greet Mr Gilchrist three times, but he ignored her.

The tribunal found that Mr Gilchrist then took the claimant to a back room. When the claimant tried to show him her medical appointment on her mobile phone, the tribunal found that Mr Gilchrist pushed the phone away and criticised her. The tribunal heard that the claimant told Mr Gilchrist she would only leave her position if she was made redundant.

The tribunal also heard that after the meeting on 26 September 2023, Mr Gilchrist emailed the claimant's direct reports, Ms Smith and Ms Waite, to offer them pay rises. The tribunal found that the claimant resigned on 2 October 2023. The tribunal further found that the claimant was genuinely unwell with anxiety and that she resigned in response to the way Mr Gilchrist had treated her.

Regarding the claim for unfair dismissal, the tribunal found that the claimant was constructively dismissed. The tribunal stated that the claimant's resignation was a direct response to Mr Gilchrist's conduct. The tribunal found that his behaviour caused the claimant to feel humiliated and that "He simply did not want the Claimant there anymore."

The tribunal found that this conduct was calculated or likely to destroy the trust and confidence between the claimant and the respondent. This amounted to a fundamental breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. As this judgment decides liability only, any compensation will be decided separately at a later stage.

On the claims regarding wages, the tribunal found that the respondent had made unauthorised deductions from the claimant's wages. These included the payment of four days of accrued holiday pay and certain basic wages and car allowances. However, the tribunal found that the claim for unpaid bonus and health insurance failed.

This case illustrates that an employer's conduct can sometimes be so damaging to the working relationship that it allows a worker to resign and claim constructive dismissal. It shows that the way a manager treats an employee can have significant legal consequences for a business.

If you have a problem at work, you can get free, impartial advice from Acas. They can help you understand your rights and the options available to you.

• Acas: The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service: a free, impartial public body that advises on problems at work and helps employers and workers settle disputes.
• Claimant: The person who brings the claim, usually the worker or former worker.
• Constructive dismissal: When an employee resigns because the employer seriously broke their contract, the law can treat the resignation as a dismissal.
• Employment tribunal: An independent judicial body that decides disputes between workers and employers, such as unfair dismissal and discrimination claims.
• Liability: Whether the employer is legally responsible: in other words, whether the claim succeeds.
• Redundancy: Dismissal because the employer needs fewer people to do a kind of work, or the workplace closes.
• Respondent: The employer, or other person or organisation, the claim is made against.
• Trust and confidence: A promise built into every employment contract that neither side will, without good reason, act in a way likely to destroy or seriously damage the trust between them.
• TUPE: The rules that protect employees when the business or service they work in moves to a new employer: their jobs and terms move with them.
• Unfair dismissal: Being dismissed without a fair reason, or in an unfair way. Most employees need to have worked for a minimum period to claim it.
• Unlawful deduction from wages: Taking money out of someone's pay without the right to, or not paying wages that were due.

Case number: 1800864/2024
Claimant: Ms N Hanson
Respondent: Interaction Recruitment Specialists Ltd
Tribunal: Employment Tribunal, Leeds (Employment Judge Davies)
Decision date: 25 September 2024

Read the full decision on GOV.UK

Topics: breach of contract, unfair dismissal, working time regulations, constructive dismissal, unauthorised deduction from wages

This report explains a published tribunal decision in plain English. It is general information, not legal advice.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.