My Manager Made My Life Hell Until I Quit — Is That Constructive Dismissal?

Thank you for explaining what you have been through. This sounds genuinely distressing, and you are right to be thinking carefully about your legal position before acting. To help me understand your situation fully — when you say the grievance was "dismissed without interviewing any witnesses," does that mean HR simply told you there was nothing to investigate, or did they carry out some form of investigation but just not speak to the witnesses you identified?

Here is the legal position on constructive dismissal: Constructive dismissal under Section 95(1)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 occurs when an employee resigns in response to a fundamental breach of contract by the employer. The leading test comes from Western Excavating v Sharp [1978]: the employer’s breach must be a significant breach going to the root of the contract, or one showing the employer no longer intends to be bound by an essential term. **The implied term of mutual trust and confidence:** Every employment contract contains an implied term that the employer will not act in a manner calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence. Repeated public humiliation, exclusion from meetings, removal of work, and dismissal of a grievance without any genuine investigation can each be evidence of a breach of this term. The cumulative effect is assessed — not just individual incidents. **Your specific position:** - Repeated public criticism by a manager in front of colleagues is capable of being a breach of the trust and confidence term - Excluding you from relevant meetings and reassigning your work without explanation compounds this - Dismissing your formal grievance without speaking to witnesses or to you further is arguably a failure to follow a fair procedure, which in itself can be a breach of contract - Taken together, the conduct over the past year may well amount to a fundamental breach **What you must do if you resign:** - Resign **promptly** after the last act you rely on. If you wait too long, you may be taken to have affirmed (accepted) the breach - Your resignation letter should make clear that you are resigning in response to the employer’s conduct and treating the contract as repudiated - Name the conduct specifically in the letter **Time limit:** You must contact ACAS for Early Conciliation within 3 months less one day of your effective date of termination. Take advice before resigning — constructive dismissal cases are fact-specific and the advice of an employment solicitor before you act can significantly strengthen your position. *This is legal information, not legal advice. For advice specific to your circumstances, consult a qualified solicitor.*