Publicly Supsended

Undervalued

ratechaser said:

I'd be looking at this outside just employment law - if what was said was accusing you of something publicly, and that then turns out to be false, and those accusations were made without reasonable justification, then there is surely a defamation/slander angle to this?

There is a saying that only rich men and publicity seekers sue for libel!

ratechaser

Undervalued said:

ratechaser said:

I'd be looking at this outside just employment law - if what was said was accusing you of something publicly, and that then turns out to be false, and those accusations were made without reasonable justification, then there is surely a defamation/slander angle to this?

There is a saying that only rich men and publicity seekers sue for libel!

I'll see you in court 

(Libel of course being 'stuff written down')

Undervalued

ratechaser said:

Undervalued said:

ratechaser said:

I'd be looking at this outside just employment law - if what was said was accusing you of something publicly, and that then turns out to be false, and those accusations were made without reasonable justification, then there is surely a defamation/slander angle to this?

There is a saying that only rich men and publicity seekers sue for libel!

I'll see you in court 

(Libel of course being 'stuff written down')

Or spoken and broadcast (e.g on TV or radio) so in some situations it doesn't actually have to be written to be libel.

But yes, just telling a few people individually would be slander providing it was both untrue and also likely to unfairly lower the opinion of the subject held by a reasonable person.

74jax

ratechaser said:

I'd be looking at this outside just employment law - if what was said was accusing you of something publicly, and that then turns out to be false, and those accusations were made without reasonable justification, then there is surely a defamation/slander angle to this?

I read it as the op agrees he did what he is accused of BUT does not agree that the company was negatively affected. 
The op needs to advise if what he agreed he did is classed as gross misconduct (even if not negative to the company). 

Seanicus

Sorry, having re-read my initial comments I can see why I've confused the issue.
I have made plans to leave in the near future, before I was able to go public with these plans I was asked if my plans meant I would be taking contracted business away from my current employer - to which I said no. I was then asked if I would be taking future work my current employer would reasonably expect to be awarded - again I said no. Both my responses are true. Hope that clarifies the confusion?
My contract does not have a non-compete clause which, whilst important for avoidance of doubt and legality, is irrelevant as I don't have a conflict of interest nor would I want my colleagues/staff to suffer from my departure by taking business from them (might sound naive, but it's an important point to me).

lincroft1710

So you in the first post you say you couldn't possibly go back and now you are saying you were intending to leave anyway.

I would not advise a constructive dismissal claim, your employers are aware of your intention to leave, so your actually leaving hardly constitutes constructive dismissal! 

Seanicus

Hi, yes I intend to leave, however I would have liked to have done so without being so publicly humiliated which was completely unnecessary - hence my questions about whether the behaviour I was subjected to was grounds for CD. Also, given the fact my boss was aware of my intentions to leave I feel his methods were purely to strike the first blow.
This is why I posted this though, to get full impartial comments, as I am aware I have a one dimensional view. So thanks for your thoughts.

MalMonroe

Seanicus said:

Hi, yes I intend to leave, however I would have liked to have done so without being so publicly humiliated which was completely unnecessary - hence my questions about whether the behaviour I was subjected to was grounds for CD. Also, given the fact my boss was aware of my intentions to leave I feel his methods were purely to strike the first blow.
This is why I posted this though, to get full impartial comments, as I am aware I have a one dimensional view. So thanks for your thoughts.

Hi, I do agree with you that this matter should not have been handled in front of other employees/colleagues. 

You could do worse than contact Acas in the first instance. Wouldn't hurt, and I found them very helpful when I needed employment advice. They can't give an opinion or legal advice but they can advise you how to handle this situation and what the alternatives to constructive dismissal are, too.  They may be busy and you may have to wait to speak to someone but in my experience, it's worth it.  

Here's their link - https://www.acas.org.uk/contact

Gavin83

OP, I don’t think this has been questioned yet but how long have you worked there?

Brynsam

Seanicus said:

Hi, yes I intend to leave, however I would have liked to have done so without being so publicly humiliated which was completely unnecessary - hence my questions about whether the behaviour I was subjected to was grounds for CD. Also, given the fact my boss was aware of my intentions to leave I feel his methods were purely to strike the first blow.
This is why I posted this though, to get full impartial comments, as I am aware I have a one dimensional view. So thanks for your thoughts.

Constructive dismissal is exceptionally difficult to prove. Given you had already decided to leave, and your boss knew you intended to leave, it's a lost cause because a key component of a CD claim requires you to demonstrate that your employer committed a serious breach of your employment contract and that you resigned in response to this breach. That clearly isn't the case.

Based on one side of the story, it sounds as if this wasn't handled well, but as you are leaving anyway, there is little point in pursuing the matter. What would you hope to achieve? Doing so is likely to exacerbate your distress without any really satisfactory outcome.