Last straw cases


The breach of contract that leads an employee to resign can be either one act, if sufficiently serious, or a series of actions which together amount to a breach. These are often referred to as “last straw” cases, and are common in situations of bullying and harassment, or where there has been a breach of trust and confidence in other ways. 


It does not matter if no single incident would amount to a serious breach, as long as taken together, they destroy the contractual relationship. However, reasonable behaviour by the employer is unlikely to be regarded as a “last straw” justifying resignation, regardless of what came before (London Borough of Waltham Forest v Omilaju [2005] IRLR 35), so any employee contemplating resignation should ensure that any eventual resignation is linked to an incident that is unarguably unreasonable.