Buckland v Bournemouth University Higher Education Corporation [2010] EWCA Civ 121, [2010] All ER (D) 299 (Feb)
The test for assessing a claim for constructive dismissal did not include an assessment of the “range of reasonable responses” on the part of the employer when determining whether or not the employer was in fundamental breach of the implied term of trust and confidence in addition to its application when assessing the fairness of the employer’s conduct.
The test for breach of a fundamental term of the contract was an objective one. Although reasonableness might be a tool in the employment tribunal’s factual analysis kit for the determination of whether there had been a fundamental breach, it could not be a legal requirement.