Being quietly passed over for a role a male colleague gets can be unlawful.
“Constructive dismissalWhen your employer's behaviour is so serious that you feel you have no choice but to resign, the law may treat that resignation as a dismissal. The most common basis is a fundamental breach of the imp... and sex discrimination both succeeded.”
If someone of a different sex is given a promotion or expanded role you were never told about or allowed to apply for, that can be unlawful sex discrimination, regardless of what your employer calls the change internally.
- Note down when you found out about the other person's new role, and how, while it is still fresh in your mind.
- A short email to your employer works. Ask why you weren't given the chance to apply, and save whatever comes back.
- If you are considering resigning over this, get advice first. The time limitThe deadline by which you must submit a claim to an employment tribunal. For most claims the limit is three months less one day from the act you are complaining about, and it is strictly enforced. Mis... runs from your resignation date and how you handle it affects your claim.
The situation
A senior compliance manager spent years building her team and was well regarded, including at board level. When her employer was bought by a larger group, her team lost two people during a difficult regulatory deadline and was never fully replaced. Her employer then quietly moved a colleague from elsewhere in the group into an expanded compliance role, without ever telling her the opportunity existed or letting her apply for it. She resigned soon after and brought a claim.
What the tribunal found
The tribunal found she had been constructively and unfairly dismissed, and that failing to give her the chance to apply for the new role was direct sex discrimination under section 13 of the Equality Act 2010The main piece of legislation protecting employees from discrimination at work. It covers nine protected characteristics including age, disability, sex, race, and religion, and makes it unlawful for a.... Her employer argued no new role had been created at all, just an extension of an existing one. The tribunal did not accept that this made a difference: whatever the internal label, the practical effect was that only a male colleague ever had the chance to be considered for it. Her other discrimination and harassmentUnwanted behaviour related to a protected characteristic, such as your sex, race, disability, age or religion, that violates your dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating environment... complaints were not upheld.
Ansbro v Marshall Motor Group Limited. Case 2411380/2023 & 2400164/2024. Manchester Employment Tribunal. April 2026.