Veitch Penny LLP - Exeter | Crediton, Devon

Case

Josiah Mason College v Parsons
Employment Appeal Tribunal (16 December 2004)

Issues

(1)Unfair Dismissal
(2)Breach of Contract
(3)Fundamental Breach

Facts

Ms Parsons had been employed as a teacher in Caring and Nursery Nursing. The College then asked Ms Parsons to teach a Religious Studies course that it was proposing to offer to students in the new academic year. The employer went into consultation with Ms Parsons and her trade union but she refused to teach the course.

The College subsequently enrolled students onto the Religious Studies course and Ms Parsons resigned.

Ms Parsons brought a claim of constructive unfair dismissal and at first instance this was successful. The Tribunal found that the only interpretation of her Contract of Employment could be that she was engaged as a teacher of a specific subject. Requiring her to teach an alternative subject that she did not want to teach amounted to a fundamental breach of contract. Accordingly, Ms Parsons was correct to regard herself as constructively dismissed.

The College appealed against the decision. It argued that the Tribunal had erred in its construction of the contractual documentation which allowed the employer to implement a change of subject provided there was consultation. They also argued that in the event that there was a breach of contract it was not of a fundamental nature sufficient for the employee to claim constructive unfair dismissal.

Decision

The Appeal would be dismissed. The Tribunal correctly interpreted the wording of the Contract stating she was employed to teach a specific subject. There was no power to require her to become a teacher of a different subject even with consultation. It viewed that the evidence and material in place before the Tribunal was sufficient to evidence a fundamental beach of contract to constitute constructive unfair dismissal.

Comments

This case proves as a useful reminder that if a dispute arises one should always go back to the terms of the Contract. In this case, the Contract had made several clear references to the specific specialism of Caring and Nursery Nursing and on this basis the appeal was dismissed.