Kathy Perks to get her day in Tribunal
You mean you don’t know who Kathy Perks is? What, you don’t listen to The Archers? It’s been on the radio since 1768 and is part of the fabric of our society. So much so that Billy Connolly once suggested its signature music should be used by the English as their national anthem rather than “God Save the Queen”, in the same way that the Scots have “Flower of Scotland” and the Welsh “Land of My Fathers”. You don’t know what you’re missing.
Or maybe you do.
Anyway, if you do know what I’m talking about you’ll know that Kathy Perks is the character the script writers go to when they want a story line that pours serious doo-doo on someone’s head. Her late husband Sid left her for Country & Western loving Jolene, with whom the infamous steamy shower scene occurred in 2000. After divorce from Sid she was raped by a colleague during a panto rehearsal, which culminated in a Crown Court trial as her assailant was convicted. Her partner at the time, Kenton Archer, supported her but then he was bagged by Jolene (to lose two one man to the same woman is unfortunate, two is …) after Sid died. Then there was a very tedious story as her son Jamie rebelled against her, homework, school, the Universe and everything else (can there be anything else). Consequently she is one of the most miserable depressing characters in the show. My heart sinks when she hoves into earshot.
In the latest heap of dung to fall upon her head, she has had a falling out at work. Kathy is (or until last night’s episode was) the Catering Manager at a local golf club. An unpleasant new broom called Martyn Gibson has been gunning for her for weeks, taking every opportunity to criticise her skills, the menus, her management of the restaurant and then he excluded her from the recruitment process for a new member of staff. Martyn got exactly what he had been seeking when Kathy threw up her hands in anger and walked out. In the car park outside she learns from a sympathetic colleague that Martyn has already lined up someone for the job they were discussing. No doubt her own replacement will be along in double quick time too.
However, the dreaded words “constructive dismissal” weren’t uttered until Kathy went to talk to her great friend Pat. It’ll be Pat who suggests that Kathy takes legal advice and sues for constructive unfair dismissal citing a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence, sex discrimination, harassment and anything else she can throw at him.
To be fair, it’s a good story line. Kathy has been bullied by Martyn for several weeks and has done well to last so long. However, she is a single parent, caring for a teenage son and needs to work. Last night’s episode played out with her saying “what am I going to do?” . That is the dilemma for any employee thinking about constructive dismissal. It is very much a case of pressing the nuclear button in employment law. The employee is acting in response to a fundamental (which lawyers often call a “repudiatory”) breach of contract meaning the employer has acted in such a way as to bring the contract of employment to an end. The employee will have the burden of proving that her actions were in response to the employer’s conduct and that there was a breach of contract. That is hard enough but the employee probably does have to walk out there and then or, if not, matters can get very complicated. See here for a blog post I wrote on the subject some years ago. The employee is then left out of work and without an income. No doubt we will follow Kathy’s legal proceedings as she trundles through the Employment Tribunal process to her, I hope, victory.
One of the criticisms made of The Archers scriptwriters over the last few years has been they have taken it away from a story of honest country folk making pots of jam for the fete and herding cows into a forum for exploring every trendy “ishoo” in society. Those critics prefer a vision of a long-departed (and probably never realistic) rural idyll in favour of storylines that could appear on any other soap, such as (shudders) East Enders.
Forget it, soap operas need to reflect society or they become irrelevant. And as any employment lawyer will tell you, employment law has never been more relevant or newsworthy.
P.S What I want to know is whether she’ll get a non win no fee deal from her solicitor.
