Source: Woman asked about ‘the change’ unfairly dismissed
A woman who was asked by a colleague if she was ‘going through the change’ was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled.
Lucie Waller worked as a programme coordinator at Swann Engineering Group between April 2022 and August 2024. She also brought a claim for harassment, but this was unsuccessful.
In early 2024, Waller was experiencing some health issues and told her line manager, Andrew Gregory. She sought tests to establish whether her symptoms were to do with the onset of perimenopause. These tests turned out to be negative.
In June 2024, she lost her train of thought while talking to Gregory, to which he responded, “Is someone going through the change?”
She told the tribunal that he continued to push the issue, later making comments in an open plan office that she was “just acting that way because you’re going through the change”.
Waller was upset and emotional and later made a complaint to HR about the comments. The tribunal also heard that she had been going through a different gynaecological issue on the same day that had upset her.
She was later contacted about wearing the wrong footwear to work and told that her lateness was “causing some frustration” with team members.
Waller responded with a formal grievance about her manager, “who is making me anxious and upset to come into work”.
She raised the menopause comments and claimed she had “got the silent treatment” from him for two months after, making for an awkward atmosphere to work in.
She was also moved to a factory office which she described as a “noisy and dirty environment”, and placed on a performance improvement plan based on the time she was logging on to her computer, which suggested she was repeatedly late.
Gregory told the tribunal that there had been a discussion about menopause on the day in question, but he could not remember the specific comments.
He added that the company’s health and safety officer had started a conversation around menopause to encourage others to speak up about their experiences.
In July 2024, after various attempts to reconcile Waller and her manager, she submitted her letter of resignation.
It said: “Unfortunately, I do not feel like I have been left with any choice as the company have failed to deal with my grievance of sex discrimination and bullying in the workplace adequately, have been therefore unable to provide me with a safe place to work and have breached my contract of employment.
“My position within the business is now untenable. I have sought advice from Acas, who have advised me to submit my resignation on the grounds of constructive dismissal.”
She then submitted a fit note, signing her off work for two weeks, after which she did not return.
On claims of constructive unfair dismissal and victimisation, the tribunal found that Gregory’s comments about menopause were insensitive and upsetting and contributed to some extent to a breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence.
Taken with the decision to place her on a performance improvement plan, “and the way in which this was done”, seriously damaged this relationship, according to Employment Judge Gardiner.
“We consider that these points, taken together, did amount to a fundamental breach of the Claimant’s employment contract,” he said.
“They did destroy the relationship of trust and confidence. There was no reasonable and proper cause to treat the Claimant in this way.”
The claim for harassment was not upheld as the tribunal noted that there had previously been discussions about the menopause in the office and employees were encouraged to speak about symptoms openly.
Furthermore, Waller had shared that her test had proven negative.
There will be a remedy hearing in due course to decide her compensation.
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