Former town clerk wins Employment Tribunal claim for constructive dismissal

MoJA former town clerk at Ludlow Town Council has won her claim for constructive dismissal in the Employment Tribunal after she resigned from her position in June 2012.

Mrs Veronica Calderbank resigned from her job at Ludlow Town Council after she was asked to work long hours without a break, despite councillors knowing that she had a serious back problem. Mrs Calberbank resigned in June 2012, claiming that the Council had breached its duty of trust and confidence towards her by the unreasonable behaviour of a number of staff and by forcing her to work when the Council knew that she had a serious back problem. She subsequently made an Employment Tribunal claim for constructive dismissal and her claim came before the Birmingham Employment Tribunal last month.

Both Mrs Calderbank and former colleagues of hers at the Council gave evidence at the Employment Tribunal in a case which stretched over 22 days. At the end of the Employment Tribunal it was ruled by Employment Judge Pirani that she had been constructively unfairly dismissed and the Council were orered to pay her compensation and reinstate her to her former job.

Mrs Calderbank stated afterwards: “I am delighted with the findings and they exposed a lot of unacceptable behaviour that took place in the past over many years in Ludlow against staff members and not just against me.”

Chris Hadrill, an employment solicitor at Redmans, commented on the case: “This case demonstrates that employers must make allowances and adjustments in the workplace for employees who are disabled or are experiencing serious health problems – a failure to do so can not only result in a claim for unfair dismissal but also disability discrimination.”

Please note that Redmans Solicitors were not in any way associated with this case.