{"id":4897,"date":"2016-09-27T19:18:30","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T19:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplylaw.waydevelopers.com\/england-wales\/wiki\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/"},"modified":"2023-11-04T13:12:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T13:12:05","slug":"gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/","title":{"rendered":"They thought it was all over.. it is now&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span>In Gibbs v Leeds United Football Club Ltd, the High Court has given some useful guidance on constructive dismissal and the need to take care when negotiating an exit with an employee.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Facts<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>Mr Gibbs was the assistant manager at Leeds United. In May 2014, the current manager Brian McDermott (who Mr Gibbs worked under) left on agreed terms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As with most football clubs, the appointment of a new manager was likely to mean Mr Gibbs was replaced with the new manager\u2019s choice of assistant. Indeed most contracts in this sphere are for a fixed duration with a manager and assistant manager\u2019s contract being for the same period.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Mr Gibbs discussed with the club\u2019s owners that he would be prepared to leave on agreed terms given that Mr McDermott had left, but he also made it clear in the absence of such an agreement he was happy to stay on in his current role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In June 2014 a new manager, David Hockaday, was appointed and over the course of the next few weeks, Mr Gibbs was not invited to fly with the first team for pre-season training in Italy, was not given his usual assistant manager duties for a period of weeks, was not invited to staff meetings, was not even given the new season\u2019s training kit to wear. He was then told via an email that going forward he would be working solely with the U-18 and U-21 players and he was to have nothing to do with the first team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Mr Gibbs resigned in response to what he alleged was a repudiatory breach of his employment contract and brought a claim in the High Court for various sums including notice and bonus. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Decision<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>The main point of interest in the decision was the argument runs by Leeds that Mr Gibbs\u2019 indication that he was willing to leave on agreed terms meant there could be no repudiatory breach on the club\u2019s part. This argument was roundly rejected by the High Court, who held that it was not a breach of contract on Mr Gibbs\u2019 part to initiate a discussion about consensual termination.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The fact that Mr Gibbs had said that he was prepared to leave if suitable terms were agreed was beside the point. He had remained ready and willing to fulfil his duties. The email he received removing him from his first team duties was clearly <g class=\"gr_ gr_49 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep gr-progress\" id=\"49\" data-gr-id=\"49\">repudiatory,<\/g> since it led to a plain loss of status and he had resigned in response to that email. He was therefore entitled to succeed in his claim for notice pay and bonus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Comment<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>The case provides confirmation that a common sense approach will be taken by the courts when considering whether there has been a repudiatory breach of contract. Simply because an employee has entered into discussions about a consensual termination does not then give an employer \u2018carte blanche\u2019 to treat them poorly or denigrate their role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Employers should always take care when discussing an agreed exit with employees. Even if it appears that an exit is inevitable, care should always be taken to ensure that the status quo is preserved until a binding agreement is reached. Many employers proceed on the assumption that the employee will be leaving and end up in hot water if the deal then breaks down.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a0<\/span><em><span>Gibbs v Leeds United Football Club Ltd [2016] EWHC 960 (QB)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Gibbs v Leeds United Football Club Ltd, the High Court has given some useful guidance on constructive dismissal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7975,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[12331,12329],"tags":[11533,9412,9931,9930,11530,8898,11532,11531],"class_list":{"0":"post-4897","1":"articles","2":"type-articles","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-employment-law-for-employees","8":"category-employment-law-for-employers","9":"tag-assistant-manager","10":"tag-constructive-dismissal","11":"tag-employee","12":"tag-employer","13":"tag-gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd","14":"tag-high-court","15":"tag-negotiating-an-exit","16":"tag-repudiatory-breach-of-contract"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>They thought it was all over.. it is now... - Simply Law England Wales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;Explore our comprehensive collection of legal articles covering various topics to help you navigate the complexities of the law. Stay informed and empowered with expert advice and detailed explanations.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"They thought it was all over.. it is now...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;Explore our comprehensive collection of legal articles covering various topics to help you navigate the complexities of the law. Stay informed and empowered with expert advice and detailed explanations.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Simply Law England Wales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/orattolaw\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-04T13:12:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2023\/11\/articles_placeholder.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1143\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OrattoLaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/articles\\\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/articles\\\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\\\/\",\"name\":\"They thought it was all over.. it is now... - Simply Law England Wales\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/articles\\\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/articles\\\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/articles_placeholder.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-27T19:18:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-04T13:12:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"\\\"Explore our comprehensive collection of legal articles covering various topics to help you navigate the complexities of the law. Stay informed and empowered with expert advice and detailed explanations.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/articles\\\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/articles\\\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/articles\\\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/articles_placeholder.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/articles_placeholder.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1143},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/articles\\\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"They thought it was all over.. it is now&#8230;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/\",\"name\":\"Simply Law England Wales\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Simply Law England Wales\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/Simply.Law-Logo_small.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/Simply.Law-Logo_small.png\",\"width\":460,\"height\":330,\"caption\":\"Simply Law England Wales\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simply.law\\\/england-wales\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/orattolaw\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/OrattoLaw\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/oratto\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/OrattoLaw\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@oratto6392\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"They thought it was all over.. it is now... - Simply Law England Wales","description":"\"Explore our comprehensive collection of legal articles covering various topics to help you navigate the complexities of the law. Stay informed and empowered with expert advice and detailed explanations.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"They thought it was all over.. it is now...","og_description":"\"Explore our comprehensive collection of legal articles covering various topics to help you navigate the complexities of the law. Stay informed and empowered with expert advice and detailed explanations.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/","og_site_name":"Simply Law England Wales","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/orattolaw\/","article_modified_time":"2023-11-04T13:12:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1143,"url":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2023\/11\/articles_placeholder.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@OrattoLaw","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/","url":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/","name":"They thought it was all over.. it is now... - Simply Law England Wales","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2023\/11\/articles_placeholder.jpg","datePublished":"2016-09-27T19:18:30+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-04T13:12:05+00:00","description":"\"Explore our comprehensive collection of legal articles covering various topics to help you navigate the complexities of the law. Stay informed and empowered with expert advice and detailed explanations.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2023\/11\/articles_placeholder.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2023\/11\/articles_placeholder.jpg","width":2000,"height":1143},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/gibbs-v-leeds-football-club-ltd-constructive-dismissal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"They thought it was all over.. it is now&#8230;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/#website","url":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/","name":"Simply Law England Wales","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/#organization","name":"Simply Law England Wales","url":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/01\/Simply.Law-Logo_small.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/01\/Simply.Law-Logo_small.png","width":460,"height":330,"caption":"Simply Law England Wales"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/orattolaw\/","https:\/\/x.com\/OrattoLaw","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/oratto\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/OrattoLaw\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@oratto6392"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/4897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4897"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/4897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6709,"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/4897\/revisions\/6709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}