Estate agent awarded £21,411 after tribunal finds desk allocation breached trust and amounted to demotion

A veteran estate agent has been awarded £21,411 after an employment tribunal found that a change of desk and related conduct by his employer undermined his status and amounted to a constructive dismissal.

Nicholas Walker, 53, brought the claim against Robsons Estate Agents after a row over where he would sit when he returned to a Rickmansworth branch in May 2023. A judge at the tribunal in Watford concluded the allocation of a "middle" desk, rather than the traditional "back" manager's desk, and the way the situation was handled by his sales director, damaged the relationship of trust and confidence and could reasonably be seen as a demotion.

Walker had been branch manager at Robsons’ Rickmansworth office from 2017 and was moved to a nearby Chorleywood branch in 2022. He was asked to return to Rickmansworth in May 2023 after his replacement resigned. Sales Director Daniel Young decided that Walker would share management duties with a more junior colleague, Matthew Gooder, but the tribunal found that this change and the reasons for it were not properly communicated to Walker.

The hearing heard that the back desk at the Rickmansworth office carried practical and symbolic importance because it had historically been used by the branch manager and housed the office’s books and ledgers. When Walker returned, Gooder was already occupying the back desk and Walker was told he would use a middle desk. Walker told the tribunal he was "upset" and believed the seating arrangement indicated he was being reduced to an assistant manager.

According to the tribunal record, a meeting between Walker and Young "escalated quickly." Young was reported to have expressed disbelief that Walker—at 53—was making a fuss about the desk, either saying he could not believe "a man of your age" or using the words "a f***ing 53-year-old man." Walker threatened to resign, and Young told him "go on then" and escorted him to write a resignation. Two days later Walker attempted to withdraw his resignation, but Young did not return his call. Walker’s leaving date was brought forward and he was given payment in lieu of notice.

The tribunal accepted Walker’s account that, from his perspective, learning that Gooder was at the back desk and he would be at the middle desk amounted to being told he would be assistant manager while Gooder would be branch manager. Employment Judge Aku Reindorf said that conclusion was "logical" given poor communication about the logistics of the move and the established significance of the back desk.

Judge Reindorf found that the conduct of Robsons, including Young’s loss of temper and the way human resources advice had been used, was likely to "destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence" between employer and employee. The tribunal concluded that either sharing the manager role or being made assistant manager would have amounted to a demotion compared with the sole-manager role Walker had performed previously.

Walker’s claim of age discrimination was dismissed by the tribunal. The decision therefore awarded him compensation for unfair constructive dismissal only, totalling £21,411.

Robsons, which operates in Hertfordshire and neighbouring areas, did not give evidence at the public hearing and has not been reported as making a statement to the tribunal's published account. The case highlights how changes to workplace roles and symbolic aspects of status can have legal consequences when communication is poor and employees perceive a reduction in seniority.