The Claimant was issued with a Final Written Warning after prolonged absence from work. She claimed unfair dismissal in NOvember 2016 even though she had not been dismissed and this was rejected by the ET. She wrote a letter to the Respondent on 6 December 2016 making reference to the bringing of the claim of constructive dismissal, which the ET concluded as indicating an intention to resign. She did resign, claiming it was in response to the Respondent making a false allegation against her in a letter dated 2 December 2016 (the last straw) but which she only received on 7 December. The ET found that the Claimant did not resign in response to the erroneous statement in the letter, which she received on 7 December, because she had already evidenced her intention to resign in her letter the previous day, the point being that one cannot characterise something as a "last straw" which post-dates a decision to resign.

The EAT dismissed the appeal. The ET was entitled to find, on the facts before it, that a letter written by the Claimant referring to "constructive dismissal" and to an ET1 having been lodged demonstrated an intention on the Claimant's part to resign, such that no subsequent act by the Respondent could amount to a "last straw".