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A dispute over whether an employee had resigned or been sacked has been settled via tribunal, with those involved being told that their behaviour “is usually found in the school playground”.
Christian Le Page worked for Guernsey Freight Services Limited between September 2020 and June 2022.
On Friday May 2022 Mr Le Page had a disagreement with the firm’s Managing Director, Gary Robilliard. It was alleged that the disagreement was loud and aggressive.
Mr Le Page left work but returned on the following Monday. He continued his job as usual until Mr Robilliard invited him into his office to discuss the disagreement. It transpired that both men expected the other to apologise. Neither did.
Mr Le Page subsequently cleared his desk, handed in his IDs and mentioned gardening leave. Another employee subsequently emailed Mr Le Page to say his gardening leave had been approved and his contract terminated.
Mr Le Page did not reply to the email until nearly two weeks later via a lawyer.
It was left to the Tribunal to simply decide whether Mr Le Page’s claim of unfair dismissal was valid.
In a statement published ONLINE the Tribunal found that Mr Le Page had resigned on 30 May 2022.
“The phrase ‘gardening leave’ is a term of art in employment law and refers to a period of notice (that may follow either a resignation or a dismissal) during which the employee is not required to attend at his place of work, but is otherwise bound by the terms of his contract of employment.
“It is clear that neither the Applicant nor the Respondent really understood what was meant by this term. Nevertheless, the Tribunal finds that the conduct of, and words used by, the Applicant (who, as the Respondent’s HR manager, could be expected to have relevant knowledge and experience) on 30 May 2022 were sufficiently clear and unambiguous to amount to a resignation, objectively viewed.”
Regardless of the Tribunal's finding, it was critical of the two men and their actions on the day in question:
“The circumstances surrounding the events of the afternoon of Monday, 30 May 2022 started on Friday, 27 May 2022. The Tribunal finds, without hesitation, that the events on the morning of 27 May were childish and were not worthy of grown men.
“TheApplicant and Mr. Robilliard both thought that they were in the right and neither was prepared to backdown.
“That sort of behaviour is usually found in the school playground. It is especially regrettable that Mr Robilliard, the managing director of the Respondent, found himself unable to defuse and manage the situation.
“Managing calm situations is easy; it takes real skill to manage difficult ones.”
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