Mr A was working for a major financial service providers in South Africa when a new manager was appointed, which he had to report to. The relationship between Mr A and the new manager was not good to say the least.
Mr A had sent an email to his new Manager: “As it pleases our wise master of the Highest Order”.
His new Manager thought this email was disrespectful. But he did not take any disciplinary action against him.
However, Mr A said that since that day he was victimized by his new Manager – like work was taken away from him and reassigned to others, he was removed from the Department’s WhatsApp group and he was excluded from general emails. All this resulted in him feeling depressed and isolated.
He lodged various grievances to HR and even wrote to the CEO for help. But the company did not do anything to resolve the issue between him and his new Manager.
Eventually he resigned and opened a case at the CCMA for constructive dismissal.
The Commissioners view at the CCMA
For a person to succeed with a case of constructive dismissal he must prove that he resigned because the employer made the continued employment intolerable. And that he exhausted all internal procedures before resigning.
In other words there must be no other option but to resign.
In this case, Mr A had exhausted all internal procedures before resigning. The company did not comply with its own grievance policies and the CEO had been unsympathetic. The company took no meaningful steps to resolve the issue.
It was also clear that Mr A had been victimised by his superior, who just wanted an excuse to get rid of him.
Therefore the CCMA found his dismissal to be unfair and he was awarded compensation of 10 months’ salary
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
1. Where an employee files a grievance, the company MUST investigate the matter. If they fail to do so, then they run the risk of losing at the CCMA.
2. If a person is claiming constructive dismissal, then that person must have evidence to show why they had to resign. This evidence can be emails, WhatsApp screenshots etc. Anything to show the bullying and victimization.
Evidence always wins cases.
Case: Aylward / Wesbank A Division of FirstRand Bank Ltd
