Veitch Penny LLP - Exeter | Crediton, Devon

Case

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council v Stanley
Employment Appeal Tribunal - (30 January 2005)

Issues

(1)Constructive Unfair Dismissal
(2)Policies and Procedures
(3)Bullying and Harassment

Facts

In this case Ms Stanley started working for the Council as a lifeguard in 1996. In 1999 she made complaints about bullying by a colleague, Bernadette Appleby. No action was taken save an informal discussion of the complaint with Ms Appleby.

As time passed Ms Stanley and a number of other employees made further complaints about Ms Appleby. As Ms Appleby had objected to the matter being dealt with informally, a formal investigation was started under the Council’s Dignity at Work Policy. The complainants (including Ms Stanley) provided the Council with the relevant information but the complaints were not investigated.

The investigation concluded that Ms Appleby’s behaviour had unintentionally undermined certain individuals. Ms Stanley’s immediate manager knew that the bullying was continuing. In January 2003, Ms Stanley went off work suffering from stress and anxiety and again nothing was done.

In March 2003, Ms Stanley was disciplined in respect of her own conduct. A conclusion was reached that Ms Stanley was paranoid and that was the reason for her complaints. She then resigned stating that she had been put in an impossible position since the original investigation concluded. She bought a successful claim of constructive unfair dismissal at the Employment Tribunal and was awarded £20,032.

In the Tribunal’s finding, it held that the Council had allowed and/or permitted Ms Stanley to be subjective to bullying and harassment and had failed to investigate her complaints adequately. This was sufficient to cause a breach of the duty of mutual trust and confidence on the part of the Council which entitled Stanley to resign as it was a fundamental breach of her contract.

The Council appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).

Decision

The EAT upheld the original Tribunal’s decision. A specific policy had been prepared and implemented and accordingly it should be used. The simple existence of a policy could not be relied on to displace the obligation on an employer to take reasonable steps to support employees who were being bullied.

Comments

This case highlights the usefulness of preparing and implementing a policy to deal with complaints from employees. It should let employees know that their complaints of bullying and/or harassment will be dealt with sensitively and fairly. This will help minimise the risk of Employment Tribunal claims based on discrimination and harassment.