Does the Johnson exclusion zone apply to constructive dismissal? Anna Macey reports
In Gebremariam v Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise (t/a Ethiopian Airlines) UKEAT/0439/12/GE, Ethiopian Airlines employed Ms Gebremariam as a ticket officer before selecting her for redundancy, without any procedures or selection criteria. She put in an appeal, complaining about the lack of procedures, and shortly after the respondent upheld her complaints and froze the redundancy process. Gebremariam then resigned, claiming constructive dismissal, among other things.
The employment tribunal (ET) found the respondent had not breached any terms of Gebremariam’s contract before the redundancy notice was given to her, but that the lack of procedures during the redundancy process did amount to a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence. However, when the respondent agreed to start the redundancy process afresh, the ET held there was no basis on which Gebremariam’s loss of trust and confidence in the respondent could be maintained, and her claim for constructive dismissal therefore failed.
Before the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) there were multiple points of appeal and cross-appeal. This article focuses on the respondent’s cross appeal that the
