A legal training manager was not forced out of her firm by changes to her role and responsibilities, an employment judge has found.
The claimant, listed as Miss H Bell, brought a complaint of unfair dismissal after leaving north west firm Carpenters in 2023. But Employment Judge Johnson, sitting at the Liverpool tribunal, dismissed her claim, finding that none of the allegations she made about her treatment amounted to a fundamental breach of trust.
The judge said the personal injury firm had tried to adapt to the changing business environment and that Bell had to accept an impact on her working life.
‘The changes very much took the form of the inevitable things that happen as an industry changes in response to economic or structural changes,’ added the judge. ‘An employee is expected to absorb these changes or alternatively they may consider whether it is time to look for alternative work.’
Bell, a qualified solicitor, worked for Carpenters since 2005 and transitioned from a fee earner role to legal training manager.
The firm was significantly affected by the Covid pandemic and personal injury reforms which reduced income. Bell was placed on furlough until July 2021 and when she returned she no longer had responsibility for a team. The judge said it was understandable she felt unhappy and vulnerable at these cuts, where no consultation had taken place and she had been absent for 16 months, but she continued in her role.
The judge said there were instances where she would react in a confrontational way to reasonable management decisions. Emails shown to the tribunal also gave a clear impression that she wanted to be left alone to get on with her job.
Matters came to a head in a Teams meeting with line manager Richard Norbury in August 2023 where Bell requested extra resources and the firm asked for more evidence of how she worked.
Bell believed her performance was being challenged and walked out of the meeting saying she would resign. The judge said she may have felt she had reached the end of her tether, but this response was not reasonable.
Bell formally resigned in writing on the same day, saying her line manager had been ‘picking holes’ in her performance. She accused the firm of punishing her for raising issues and signed off with ‘Richard/Carpenters has forced me to resign – I cannot take any more’.
Before the tribunal, Carpenters submitted the allegations were nothing more than personal grievances. Bell’s resignation arose from management decisions they were entitled to make and there was no repudiatory breach.
The judge said Norbury’s conduct at the August 2023 meeting was reasonable and appropriate and Bell was not placed in an impossible position where resignation was her only option. The claim was not well founded and failed.
