John Arends v The Mount Charles Group Limited [2018]

Keywords: Unfair Dismissal; Resignation; Ambiguous Wording

The claimant worked for the respondent as a chef manager. He felt that he and his only other full-time colleague were overworked and formally requested extra kitchen assistance which was then provided. After two periods of sick-leave, he raised a number of formal grievances including discrimination, bonus payments and disparity in staffing levels between different sites.

After the grievance was rejected, the claimant phoned the respondent’s operations manager and the tribunal accepted the claimant became aggressive. The contentious issue arose out of a later voicemail in which the claimant allegedly resigned, although he contended