QUESTION 2

Melanie, until recently, worked for LNG Inc as a Managing Director. On 06 September 2023, Melanie resigned from her position as a Managing Director at LNG Inc following six difficult months. During the aforementioned six month period, Melanie was denied a promotion in favour of an unqualified candidate. After she threatened to sue her employer for unfair labour practices, she was promoted to the position of Managing Director. However, following her promotion, Melanie found it impossible to perform any of her tasks since the Chief Operating Officer (COO) was never available when she needed his cooperation. In her position, Melanie required the COO to sign off on any task in order to finalise it.

Additionally, Melanie was also not given permission by the COO to appoint a secretary and clerks to assist her in her work. The refusal came despite the fact that the amount of work she needed to perform was impossible to handle for one person. The previous Managing Directors all had secretaries and clerks to assist them. Melanie lodged several complaints about her experience with the Employee Relations Manager, but her issues were never resolved. Melanie decides to resign since the work environment has become toxic, and both emotionally and psychologically destructive for her. Melanie approaches you for legal advice. She believes that she was a victim of a concerted effort to discredit and get rid of her. She intends to sue her former employer for unfair dismissal.

Discuss the nature of Melanies unfair dismissal claim and advise her on whether she will be successful if she pursues it.