Claimant v Swann Engineering Group Limited

The tribunal found that the Respondent's conduct (imposition of a Performance Improvement Plan without justification, moving the Claimant to an unsuitable factory office environment, and earlier menopause comments) taken together amounted to a fundamental breach of the implied term of trust and confidence without reasonable cause. The Claimant resigned in response to this repudiatory breach.

The tribunal found that Mr Gregory made two comments on 3 June 2024 referring to the menopause ('going through the change'), but these did not amount to harassment. In the context of an office culture where menopause was openly discussed and the Claimant had shared her own test results, it was not reasonable for the comments to be regarded as violating her dignity or creating a proscribed environment.

The tribunal found that the decision to impose the Performance Improvement Plan and to move the Claimant to the factory office were both materially influenced by the Claimant's protected act (raising a complaint about menopause comments on 5 July 2024). The constructive dismissal was therefore also an act of victimisation. However, other alleged acts of victimisation either predated the protected act or were not factually established.