In Ms S Pywell v J.W. Nunn T/A Primrose Lodge the claimant was employed by the respondent who owns the care home within which the claimant worked, from 1 July 2019 to 3 August 2021, when she left following her resignation. She worked as a senior care assistant.
The claimant says that she made protected disclosures about the work practices within the respondent and its related care home. She claims that she was subjected to detriment for doing so. Alongside this, she claims discrimination and harassment related to her disability.
She says that these things together with the handling of her grievance combined to form circumstances within which she could consider herself to have been constructively dismissed.
26 March 2021 was the claimant’s last working day at the respondent, and it is when matters came to a head. In the lead up to 26 March 2021, the claimant had experienced friction with a colleague who had been recruited to sit above the claimant. The claimant did not consider the assistant manager to be proficient in her job. She attended a resident’s funeral on 26 March 2021, and after this she met with the assistant manager and her manager, Ms Bacon. She was not in uniform.
Bacon and the claimant met privately after this meeting, and Pywell raised concerns about the assistant manager as well as staff moving between care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic. The claimant alleged this exchange became heated and Bacon started to shout at her. She claimed Bacon said, “no wonder you have no friends”, “where is your f***ing uniform”, and “go on, f*** off”.
Employment Judge Fredericks said: “No employee should be expected to be told to ‘f*** off’ directly by a manager speaking in anger. No employee should be expected to stand being the victim of a personal attack about their life or their character. No employee should be expected to stand being the victim of a direct threat from their manager, whatever the circumstances.
“Ms Bacon’s actions, on behalf of the respondent, constitute a serious breach of the claimant’s employment contract which she was entitled to accept, resign and claim constructive dismissal.”
The tribunal dismissed her whistleblowing detriment claim, finding that she did make some protected disclosures, but these were either taken on board or investigated by the respondent. It said the detriments she suffered did not relate to these disclosures.
Her disability discrimination and harassment claims were also dismissed as the tribunal found she was not treated less favourably because of her disability.
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