Sime v. Imperial College London

June Sime (plaintiff) was an executive assistant for a professor at the Imperial College London (college) (defendant). The relationship between Sime and the professor was not good; the professor was allegedly a difficult boss. Sime also allegedly told others private information about her boss without permission and allegedly spoke about the professor negatively. Eventually, the professor wrote a note to himself explaining that Sime had breached his personal affairs, lacked skills necessary to do the job, and was overpaid. The professor left the note on his desk in a stack of papers. Sime found and read the note and became distressed, taking sick time because she was so distraught by the note. When the professor learned what happened, he wrote an apology to Sime and requested her to come back, saying that he was sorry and that he was merely attempting to clarify his own thoughts. Attempts to get Sime to return to her job were unsuccessful, and she eventually wrote that she did not intend to return. Sime said that she considered the professor’s note to have been a fundamental breach of her employment contract. Sime then sued the college for breach of her employment contract by violating the implied covenant of mutual trust and confidence. The employment tribunal concluded that there had not been a fundamental breach of the covenant and therefore dismissed the case. On appeal, however, both parties agreed that this was a legal error that needed to be remanded for further consideration. The parties instead disputed whether a breach of the implied covenant of mutual trust and confidence could constitute a constructive dismissal and whether an apology would be relevant to the analysis.