Property manager daughter takes family to Tribunal over ‘unfair dismissal’
Jemma Wright fails in her attempt to make an unfair dismissal claim against her mother and sister's lettings agency in Selby in a highly unusual case.
An Employment Tribunal in Sheffield has dismissed an attempt by a former property manager – who worked at a Selby lettings agency for more than 28 years – to claim unfair dismissal after leaving the company.
While such attempted unfair dismissal claims are commonplace, this one is unusual because the person pursuing the case is a daughter of the founding parents of award-winning company Harlequin Property Services (main image), Brian and Donna-Marie Douglas.
The daughter, Jemma Wright, began employment at the company in 1997 alongside her other sister, both working for her mother and father, who set up the firm in 1992.
But in 2025, the Tribunal heard, Wright’s behaviour and attendance record became erratic, a problem given that she was primarily responsible for financial affairs including wages, tax and dealing with HMRC and rental deposits; insurance; liaising between landlords and tenants and general office duties.
Neglect duties
The Tribunal heard that from January 2025 onwards, the claimant started to neglect her duties and either failed to attend work, turned up late, or went missing for hours at a time, and from early July onwards went on unauthorised leave.
On 22nd July, she had a meeting with her mother and sister and told them she wanted her P45 so that she could claim benefits and that she would be going to the Jobcentre to get another job.
The statement was treated by the company as a ‘resignation with immediate effect’ and Wright’s P45 was issued on 23rd July 2025 and she was paid up to and including 7th July 2025, the last day she worked.
The Tribunal was also told that it was found subsequently that £21,956 had been taken “improperly” from the company’s bank account between March and July this year, and that tenants had been told to pay their rent directly into a personal bank account. A criminal investigation into these allegations is under way, it was revealed.
Dismissed
During the hearing Wright did not represent herself and when the court repeatedly tried to contact her to set up the requested video link to attend the hearing, she did not answer the phone. The court dismissed her unfair dismissal claim, saying: “The first and most important question in this case is whether the claimant was dismissed.
“The judgment of the tribunal is that the claimant was not dismissed.
The judgment of the tribunal is that the claimant was not dismissed.”
“Bearing in mind what happened on 22nd July 2025, the claimant resigned with immediate effect. There is no evidence that she did so in circumstances entitling her to resign and bring a constructive unfair dismissal claim.”
Harlequin Property Services is no longer trading – the company’s website has been down since August 2025, its phone number is no longer working and the agency’s Google listing shows the firm as ‘permanently closed’.
Picture: Google Streetview.
