Mrs Triggs was off work with anxiety and depression because of bullying and overwork. She resigned because of her employer’s failure to deal with her grievances and brought a claim for constructive dismissal. She claimed the lost earnings she would have earned before her dismissal, on the basis that had she not been bullied, she would have been at work over this period, earning her full pay, instead of being at home receiving sick pay only. She also claimed future losses, based on her on-going inability to work as a result of psychiatric damage caused by the bullying.

The Court of Appeal confirmed that none of these kinds of losses could be recovered in a claim for constructive unfair dismissal because they do not result from the (constructive) dismissal (i.e. the resignation). Instead, they result from acts of bullying that took place before the resignation. To pursue these claims, she should have brought a civil claim for personal injury. Alternatively, assuming Mrs Trigg could show she had a disability, she might have been able to bring a claim for disability discrimination.

GAB Robbins v Triggs [2008] EWCA Civ 17