REWARD
Employment law latest
Dan Carder, Human Resources Content Consultant, Peninsula, shares details of three interesting recent employment law cases, along with their outcomes
Director who was told to “shut up” in front of junior staff wins constructive unfair dismissal claim In the case of Ashe v Claims Equilibrium Club Ltd, the Employment Tribunal (ET) had to consider whether a director was constructively dismissed following a breakdown in the relationship between them and a fellow director. The claimant worked as a director of operations for the respondent. Part of their agreement to join the respondent was an arrangement for the purchase of equity in the organisation, which would result in the claimant taking over the business. This was to be subject to the claimant’s satisfactory performance. Unfortunately, the relationship began to deteriorate when it was alleged the claimant wasn’t building the connections they needed to and was losing out on business for the organisation – the claimant’s fee earnings were described as “disappointingly low.” The claimant was told they needed to show leadership to take over the business, but the respondent didn’t see that. The claimant was told they wouldn’t receive a bonus and the arrangement was withdrawn. The claimant raised a grievance. They complained of a “general hostility” towards them, which was “nothing short of bullying and intimidation,” including being told to “shut up” by a fellow director on fortnightly Microsoft Teams meetings which included junior staff. The grievance was partially upheld, but no measures were taken to
alternative employment during redundancy process In the case of Hendy Group v Kennedy, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) had to consider if the ET had correctly assessed whether the employer had considered alternative employment during a redundancy process. The claimant had worked in car sales for decades. In their several years with the respondent, they progressed from sales into management, before moving into the role of training manager. As a result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, a genuine redundancy situation arose within the claimant’s team, and they were selected for redundancy. The claimant accepted that there was a genuine redundancy situation and that they were fairly selected. However, they argued that the dismissal was unfair because the employer failed to consider the possibility of the employee continuing to work for them in a different role. The ET held that the respondent had a duty to consider alternative employment for the claimant and had failed in this duty. This was based on several factors including the following: l the claimant was treated the same as an external applicant; they were given no additional assistance or support when applying for and being interviewed for roles l the claimant was blocked from applying for alternative roles by human resources l there was no proactive support for the
resolve matters. The claimant eventually went on sick leave and resigned. They brought a constructive unfair dismissal claim. The ET had to determine whether there was a fundamental breach of contract on the employer’s part; had the implied duty of trust and confidence been breached? The claimant argued that it had, due to the cumulative effect of the respondent’s actions in reneging on the arrangement, failing to address the aspects of the grievance that had been partially upheld and the bullying behaviour. After analysing the respondent’s behaviour, the ET established that although there was reasonable and proper cause for some of the respondent’s behaviour, for others there wasn’t. The claimant, it was found, had also contributed to the breakdown in the relationship through their behaviour. However, the ET concluded there had been a fundamental breach of contract which entitled the claimant to resign, and the claimant did resign in response to that breach. As there was no fair reason for a dismissal, the ET upheld the claim for constructive unfair dismissal. The claim for constructive unfair dismissal was upheld but the award was reduced by 50% due to the claimant’s involvement in the breakdown of the relationship. The total compensation awarded to the claimant was £14,568.
Employee unfairly dismissed after failure to consider
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | October 2025 | Issue 114 36
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