Lisa Lyn Daniels v Argo Icarus Travel (Pty) Ltd [2026] ZALCCT 61

Seat of Court: The Labour Court of South Africa, Cape Town

Date Delivered: 8 April 2026

Factual Summary: 

The Applicant was employed as a store manager at the Respondent's Cavendish Square outlet from 11 November 2019. Her contractual salary was R10,000 per month. In July 2020, the parties agreed to a 25% salary reduction until the ban on international travel was lifted and business resumed normal operations. The travel ban was lifted on 1 October 2020, but salaries were not restored to pre-COVID-19 levels. In early March 2023, the Applicant informed the Respondent she was pregnant with a high-risk pregnancy. Medical practitioners advised she should perform light duties and not lift heavy objects. The Applicant alleges she was pressured to perform unsafe tasks, that her grievance was not processed, and that an incapacity hearing was conducted unfairly. On 4 May 2023, she was placed on unpaid leave. On 21 July 2023, she resigned, alleging the Respondent had made continued employment intolerable. She brought claims for: (i) constructive/automatically unfair dismissal; (ii) unfair discrimination on grounds of sex, gender, and pregnancy; (iii) violation of constitutional rights to dignity and bodily integrity; and (iv) unpaid salary. At the close of the Applicant's case, the Respondent applied for absolution from the instance.

Legal Questions Considered:

1. The test for absolution from the instance:

"An order for absolution from the instance is an appropriate order to make at the end of the plaintiff's case where a court, applying its mind reasonably to the evidence, could not or might not find for the plaintiff." [para 6] "The test to be applied is not whether the evidence led by plaintiff establishes what would finally be required to be established, but whether there is evidence upon which a Court, applying its mind reasonably to such evidence, could or might (not should, nor ought to) find for the plaintiff." [para 8]

2. Whether the Applicant established a prima facie case for constructive dismissal:

"An employee is considered constructively dismissed when they resign because an employer has made continued employment unbearable." [para 108] "Prima facie, she has established a case that this Court, considering the facts, could or might find in her favour." [para 110]

3. Whether the Applicant established a prima facie case for automatically unfair dismissal:

"In Kroukam v SA Airlink (Pty) Ltd, the Court stated that section 187 of the LRA imposes an evidential burden on an employee to present evidence that raises a credible possibility of an automatically unfair dismissal, after which it is incumbent upon the employer to prove otherwise." [para 115] "Prima facie, the applicant has presented evidence that raises a credible possibility that her dismissal falls within the scope of section 187(1)(f) of the LRA." [para 117]

4. Whether the Applicant established a prima facie case for unfair discrimination:

"Since the alleged discrimination is based on these grounds, section 11 of the EEA requires the employer to prove that the discrimination did not occur or that it was justified." [para 123]

Order:

1. Absolution from the instance is denied.

2. The costs of the application are costs in the cause.