Case study: £30,000 settlement for constructive dismissal claim against employer

Our employment law solicitors recently helped an employee claim compensation from their employer because of constructive unfair dismissal.

Our client, Mrs U, approached Barcan+Kirby after she was signed off from work due to the impact her employer’s behaviour was having on her well-being.

Mrs U had worked for her employer for more than 20 years but had received a negative appraisal that suggested her work needed improvement. No concerns had previously been raised and her colleagues, who had also not met similar high targets, had not received the same feedback.

This appraisal was particularly significant as it impacted our client’s potential pay rise, which was denied as a result of the review.

Making a constructive dismissal claim

Mrs U raised a grievance with her employer herself but was unhappy with the outcome and made an appeal, however, she was also unhappy with the appeal process as they did not recognise the inconsistent approach that they had used and the rating remained the same. She came to our employment law solicitors to explore her options and we discussed a potential constructive dismissal claim.

For the constructive dismissal claim to succeed, Mrs U, with our guidance, needed to show that:

• Her employer had breached our client’s employment contract;
• Mrs U had resigned in response to that breach; and
• She did not delay her resignation in response to her employer’s breach (if an employee continues to work without leaving, they are likely to lose their right to treat the contract as breached and will be regarded as having chosen to ‘affirm’ the contract).

Once we were satisfied that Mrs U could argue a constructive dismissal claim, our employment solicitors drafted a pre-action letter to Mrs U’s employer. This set out the context of the potential claim and put forward a proposal to terminate her employment in return for financial compensation.

The Settlement Agreement

There was a period of negotiation before a settlement agreement was offered. We met with Mrs U to go through the terms of the agreement whilst staying within our fixed-fee package.

The terms of the settlement agreement were agreed upon by the employer which included our client receiving a compensation payment of £30,000 which was paid free of deductions.

Get in touch with our employment Lawyers in Bristol

If you believe that your employer has been in breach of their contract, or you have been forced to resign from your job due to discrimination or as a result of being treated unfairly, you may be able to claim for constructive dismissal.

For more information, call our employment solicitors on 0117 325 2929 or fill out our online enquiry form.