In Sandhu v Jan de Rijk Transport Ltd [2007] IRLR 519 CA the Court of Appeal held that when an employee negotiated severance terms and resigned during a meeting called without advance warning to effect his dismissal in circumstances where he had no time to reflect or seek advice, the only conclusion open to the tribunal as a matter of law was that he had been dismissed.
In Kwik-Fit (GB) Ltd v Lineham the EAT holds that an industrial tribunal was entitled to find that an employee who resigned in the heat of the moment was dismissed unfairly.
In Caledonian Mining Company Ltd v Bassett and another the EAT holds that an industrial tribunal was entitled to conclude, on the facts before it, that a group of employees had been dismissed within the meaning of s.83(2) of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 when they were inveigled into resigning by their employers.
In Sothern v Franks Charlesly & Co [1981] IRLR 278 CA, the Court of Appeal held that the words "I am resigning" are not ambiguous, so that a reasonable employer would not have interpreted the words when used by the respondent employee as a resignation in the circumstances of the present case.