The EAT has ruled that an employee who has committed a prior repudiatory breach can still bring a constructive unfair dismissal claim, in this case based on the employer's alleged unfairness in investigating his misconduct (although compensation is likely to be reduced, potentially to nothing).
The EAT also ruled that the employer's investigation had not breached any reasonable expectation of privacy when accessing personal emails the employee had sent from his work email account, given that this was in breach of the IT policy which the employee had drafted himself and that he had not marked the emails as private or personal. (Atkinson v Community Gateway Association, EAT)
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Steve Bell
Managing Partner - Employment, Industrial Relations and Safety (Australia, Asia), Melbourne
Emma Rohsler
Regional Head of Practice (EMEA) - Employment Pensions and Incentives, Paris
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