Being left unsupported and mocked for your age can justify resigning and winning.

The situation

He'd worked as a chef for over 45 years. Shortly after his employer overhauled the menu, they left him to run the kitchen alone on his first night without support. When orders began backing up, his manager shouted at him in front of colleagues, telling him an eighteen-year-old could do his job better and that a "youngster" could manage the shift alone. She also told him he would have to cover the cost of customer refunds out of his own wages. He resigned and brought a claim for constructive unfair dismissal.

What the tribunal found

The tribunal upheld his claim. He'd been constructively and unfairly dismissed. The respondent didn't attend the hearing, citing liquidation. But Companies House showed the company was still trading, so the tribunal went ahead and heard his evidence anyway. It found his treatment breached the trust and confidence that has to exist between employer and employee. His claim succeeded under Part X of the Employment Rights Act 1996The primary piece of legislation setting out employees rights in the UK, including the right not to be unfairly dismissed, the right to a written statement of employment particulars, and rights relati.... He was awarded £23,591, including a 12.5% uplift for the employer's failure to follow the ACAS Code of PracticeOfficial guidance issued by ACAS on how disciplinary and grievance procedures should be run. It is not law, but tribunals take it into account, and a failure to follow it can result in any award being....

Big changes like a new menu, system, or process often mean someone gets left to cope alone. If that's you, and raising it just gets you shouted down instead of supported, that matters. You're not expected to just cope with impossible conditions. If your employer blames you instead of fixing the staffing, that matters. It matters more if they throw in remarks about your age. That combination can already be a breach of the trust that has to exist between you and your employer.

The law lets you bring a claim without waiting to be dismissed first. If your employer's conduct is serious enough, you can resign and treat yourself as dismissed. That's called constructive dismissal. This case also shows something else. An employer that skips the hearing, even claiming insolvency, does not stop the tribunal deciding on your evidence. The company just has to still legally exist, and the tribunal can check that itself.

Talk to an adviser before resigning if this sounds like your situation. Constructive dismissal claims turn on specific facts and timing, and getting it wrong can cost you the claim. A solicitor or an employment adviser can help you work out whether what's happened crosses the line.

The same principle turned up in a case about a manager's abusive language and a botched grievance process.