New EAT Decision

This decision has been placed on the EAT website in the last 24 hours.

Harlow v General HealthCare Group plc
(HHJ Peter Clark, 4/10/02)

The employer failed to respond to a formal grievance, on the grounds the employee was off sick and his wife had indicated that further communications from the employer were causing further stress. The employee argued this was a fundamental breach of contract, as had been found in Goold (Pearmark) Ltd v McConnel, entitling him to resign and claim constructive dismissal. The EAT upheld the employment tribunal's decision to reject this argument, stating that it was not unreasonable for an employer to wait until an employee returns to work from stress-related absence before dealing with a grievance.