To give a summary, Ms Hanson had worked for her company for 20 years. But, when a new manager took over, things swiftly fell apart. The tribunal heard that when Ms Hanson greeted her new manager with a very friendly and simple “hello” (at least three times) one morning, the manager ignored her.
The question we are all probably thinking is, why? Well, because the manager had assumed that Ms Hanson was late for work (which in fact was untrue, she had been at a medical appointment). She tried to explain this and tried to show him proof of her medical appointment on her phone. But he the manager pushed her phone aside and said, “if you don’t want to be here, leave”. This wasn’t the only instance of arrogance from him.
This same day, the manager offered pay rises to his team, but not to Ms Hanson. He then continued to email one of her direct reports and made snide remarks. She resigned shortly after these incidents as the manager’s behaviour was causing sleepless nights and anxiety. She felt humiliated and undermined.
The tribunal ruled in her favour, finding that her resignation amounted to constructive dismissal. The Judge ruled that his actions ‘destroyed trust and confidence’ which breached their contract. The fact he ignored her simple greeting contributed to this breach of trust and confidence.
She also won her claim for unlawful deductions from wages after he withheld her contractual sick pay, claiming (without evidence) that her illness was not genuine.
An employment contract doesn’t consist only of the terms written in ink (or toner). The law implies clauses from Act of Parliament, union agreements and caselaw. There is a term implied into every employment contract that neither party shall act in a way that is calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage the trust and confidence in the employment relationship. There is an infinite number of ways to breach this clause because human relationships are complex. Examples include side-lining, unfair criticism, shouting, setting up to fail. And, as we see in this case, ignoring a morning greeting. Although an employee would have to prove that the ignoring was deliberate, not just a case of poor observation or being engrossed in another activity.
So, what makes this an interesting case? Well, on one hand undermining a long-standing employee and ignoring legitimate concerns clearly crossed the line. However, many would be surprised to learn that something like ignoring a greeting could lead to an unfair dismissal claim.
Some may take the stance that this was not just simply ignoring a greeting, it was bullying.
We had a similar case at Hatton James where an employee wrote in a grievance to HR “my colleague is ignoring me, I feel side-lined and want this looked into please“. HR looked into it and offered her a meeting (as the law requires). At the end of the process HR found that the two colleagues didn’t get on because of a personality clash. The company sent them to mediation and warned that they might both be moved sideways or out if they couldn’t reconcile their differences.
With an employee of 20 years’ standing, it’s unusual to see colleague relationships suddenly decline. We most often see it when a new manager comes into the workplace with new ideas, different ways of working and that’s when a personality clash can arise.
See the full judgment of this case here.