‘Sir …that was my chair’ – are we at work or back in primary school?

Adrian Fryer

A tribunal has found that forcing a senior employee to sit at a desk which was viewed as a ‘junior’ desk can amount to constructive dismissal.

A constructive dismissal occurs where an employee resigns in response to a fundamental breach of contract by the employer. Often, the breach relied upon is a breach by the employer of the implied term of trust and confidence which underpins the employment relationship.

In Walker v Robsons (Rickmansworth) Limited, the Claimant was a director at an estate agency, holding the position of branch manager. In the branch in which he worked, the back desk was informally reserved for the branch manager, with more junior employees sitting in the middle. After a period spent working at a different branch, the Claimant returned to the branch and was told to sit at a middle desk. The Claimant was upset about the desk he was given, perceiving this as the desk for the assistant manager. He resigned and claimed constructive dismissal.

The Tribunal found that moving the Claimant to the middle desk was conduct likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence.  It was reasonable for the Claimant to view this as a demotion. In fact, the desk faux pas had been completely unintentional by the employer (a result of poor communication). This made no difference – the Claimant had reasonably believed that the desk move constituted a demotion and resigned in response. His claim succeeded.

Workplaces are funny places, full of their own in-jokes and subtexts. This case is a lesson to employers to make sure that they understand the particular politics at work in their workplaces, no matter how silly or trivial they may seem from the outside. It might be a special mug reserved for a certain employee or, as in this case, an unwritten seating arrangement which dictated seniority.

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