Facts
S, an operations manager with RTL, was summoned to a meeting with senior management without any prior indication of the reason for the meeting. At this meeting, he was told that the company has lost confidence in him due to allegations of misconduct. Although there was some dispute as to the exact wording used, it was accepted that the employee was left in no doubt that the company was intending to terminate his employment. However, S went on to utilise the meeting to negotiate terms for his departure and signed a letter confirming those terms and agreeing that his employment would terminate on a specific future date.
Although the employment tribunal found that RTL had started off the meeting by effectively dismissing S, it concluded that ultimately the reason he left was because he negotiated favourable terms for a departure and therefore his departure was due to resignation. The EAT upheld this finding on appeal.
Court of Appeal’s decision
The Court of Appeal disagreed. It held that there had been a dismissal and the subsequent discussions between the parties did not alter this. The employee’s purported ‘resignation’ was the result of a fait accompli and came about due to undue pressure. The Court concluded that there was a lack of genuine negotiation and discussions. In agreeing terms, S was doing no more than attempting to ‘salvage what he could from the inevitable fact that he was going to be dismissed’.
The Court was particularly influenced by the fact that S’s resignation had happened at the same meeting at which the question of the termination of his employment had been raised. Had S been afforded the opportunity to consider the matter properly and to take independent advice and still decided to agree terms, there would have been sufficient evidence to point to a genuine decision to resign rather than a dismissal. The Court was also influenced by the facts that the terms agreed at the meeting were not particularly advantageous to S.
The Court sent the case back to a new tribunal to consider S’s claim of unfair dismissal.
Comment
Employers should ensure that they follow proper disciplinary procedures when seeking to discipline or dismiss their employees.
Even if an employee appears purports to resign, an employment tribunal may still determine, on consideration of the surrounding circumstances, that there has in fact been a dismissal.