- A UK real-estate agency was sued by an employee who quit after being assigned a worse desk.
- A tribunal ruled it was “logical” for him to perceive the desk move as a demotion.
- The move was “likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence,” it said.
A UK real-estate agency asked a manager to sit at a lesser seat, which he viewed as a demotion. He sued and won.
In 2023, Nicholas Walker was asked to relocate to a different branch of Robsons Limited, just north of London, returning him to an office he’d previously managed.
But he then learned he was sharing the manager role with someone else.
Walker was then told he would be sitting at a desk in the middle of the office rather than his old one at the back, where the books and ledgers were kept and managers had traditionally sat.
The colleague he would share management responsibilities with was now sitting at that desk.
After resigning, Walker took the agency to an employment tribunal, which agreed he was right to view the seating arrangement as a demotion.
Per the tribunal’s judgment, Walker messaged the director of sales, Daniel Young, on WhatsApp saying he would not move to the branch if it meant sitting in the seat in the middle of the office.
Young “could not understand why [Walker] was making a fuss about something that he thought was unimportant,” the judgment said, adding he “did not understand the significance of the back desk.”
The tribunal found it “logical” for Walker to conclude that the seating amounted to a demotion, as communication about his move back to his old branch was “poor.”
Its judgment acknowledged the “symbolic significance” of Walker’s old seat. It also said that, as Walker “had not been told that he would be sharing the branch manager role,” allocating him a different seat “amounted to being told that he would be assistant manager,” while the employee in his old seat was the actual manager.
This was “likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence,” it said.
The tribunal’s judgment describes how, after receiving Walker’s WhatsApp complaint, Young told Walker he could not understand why “a man of your age” — Walker was 53 at the time — was complaining about a desk. It added Young “swore” and that “his voice was raised.”
Per the judgment, Walker resigned after the meeting. The tribunal found that his case amounted to constructive dismissal.
His compensation will be determined at a future date.
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