Postman accused of stealing mail wins unfair dismissal case

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/1379 ... ?ref=fbshr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A POSTMAN who was sacked after being accused of stealing mail has won his case for unfair dismissal.

David Mitchell, a postman at Cupar delivery office in Fife, was accused of stealing greeting cards with money and gift vouchers inside despite bosses finding no clear evidence he had stolen them.

He was dismissed after 27 years' service with Royal Mail in December last year.

The 57-year-old, of Chance Inn, Fife, has now won his employment tribunal against the delivery firm, who have been ordered to reinstate him.

In a written judgment on the case, employment judge Ian McFatridge said: "The employer did not have reasonable grounds on which to sustain their belief in the claimant's guilt.

"There were simply insufficient grounds to come to that view. It therefore follows that the decision to dismiss is unfair."

The tribunal heard that in August last year, Royal Mail security investigator Colin Binnie discovered there was an unusually high number of losses being reported in Cupar in relation to greeting cards which had money or gift vouchers enclosed.

He decided to plant four test cards into the sorting system in Cupar and one of the cards was not returned from the route belonging to Mr Mitchell.


Mr Binnie focused his attention on the postman and a further two cards were inserted into sorting areas used by Mr Mitchell and again one disappeared.

The investigator and his team then decided to carry out surveillance on Mr Mitchell after planting further test cards.

The judgment states: "Mr Binnie and his colleagues followed the claimant in his van. They kept him under as close surveillance as they could."

Occasionally he was out of sight when carrying out deliveries and he went home for lunch where they then watched his house.

The judgment adds: "They waited until he left the small village where he lived and then stopped him and escorted him back to the delivery office.

"The claimant was personally searched. His van was searched and his own personal car was also searched. No trace was found of the test postal items."

The investigation team also searched his home and found no trace of the items.

At his disciplinary hearing, Mr Mitchell argued that someone else within the delivery office could have taken the items from his sorting areas, but this was rejected.

The theft was also reported to the procurator fiscal, who decided against proceeding with the case.

Judge McFatrdidge said: "In this case at the end of the day all that the employers had to go on was that these items had been placed in some way into the mails which, in the ordinary way of things, the claimant would be the postman called upon to process.

"The items had then gone missing.

"In those circumstances the crucial which had to be considered by anyone investigating the situation was the extent to which others might possibly have had access to and thus opportunity to steal these test items."

However, the judge added he could not say whether the claimant did or did not steal the items.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: "We have studied the judgment in this case and are seeking a reconsideration hearing on the reinstatement of this ex-employee. Royal Mail has a zero tolerance approach to any dishonesty. It is a criminal offence to tamper with or delay the delivery of mail and anyone caught doing so faces serious disciplinary measures. The safety and security of mail is of the utmost importance to this business.”

[DB1100]

Frightening really,how one mans name can be dragged thru the mud with out any real evidence,from what I read it seems once the I.B have decided you are guilty you are stuffed,I think the only person who should be sacked is Colin Binnie the incompetent investigator because of his case handling skills.

[blue1873]

Those last two sentences in that statement would make you want to rip your knitting
when you think of all the various strokes and dodges that are pulled on a regular basis.

[bustedflush]

The thing is it's so easy to selectively steal mail off of one round if you are experienced in sorting, even though it's someone else's round. I assume these missing test items were ALL tracked out under the RFID system, so it could be established that the accused actually left the office with every one of them?

It's obvious that RM believe this OPG is dishonest and that they only failed to get him out due to insufficient evidence. Rather than lose face and admit their security/entrapment has flaws they will now use their unlimited funds to appeal this to the ends of the Earth. Poor postie faces a long, drawn-out battle.

[meercat]

No CCTV, no items found on his person or in his car or home, no evidence atall? And how do these test cards work?

'He decided to plant four test cards into the sorting system in Cupar and one of the cards was not returned from the route belonging to Mr Mitchell.'

Are they are supposed to be returned by random house holders? What if they just put them in the bin and lied about getting them or forgot?

[IloveMYredTROLLEY!]

Just goes to show that sometimes, RM cannot simply sack you on the belief you did something wrong, they need to prove their conclusion was reasonable.

[Justiceseeker]

Thing is they can just sack you and say they believe you did it, a 'gap' in Employment Law simply allows them to not reinstate when has judge ordered reinstatement - then they should compensate but guess what, that's capped (whereas unfair dismissal for any discrimination is 'skies the limit' time) and there are lots of mechanisms for them to reduce it down as far as they can. They will also dispute paying costs! Only 1% of Employment Law Reinstatement case are won - he defied the odds! Her Majesty should think hard about whether Royal Mail deserves its title (as a private company) when it blatantly disregards what one of her judges has ordered.

[Broxi51]

https://www.change.org/p/rt-hon-david-c ... custom_msg

“Innocent Until Proven Guilty!” We live our ‘normal’ lives in the belief that this is what our revered UK legal system and laws abide by, and give us opportunity of utilizing it if we find ourselves in the unenviable position of defending ourselves. It is impossible to prove yourself innocent after all. However this did not happen to me. After 27 years of service and a clean conduct record I was dismissed by Royal Mail on 4 December 2014 for Gross Misconduct, accused of allegedly stealing greetings cards. I did not steal from Royal Mail. I am innocent. I knew I had not done it but you can’t prove you did NOT do something. I was stopped by the Royal Mail Investigation Bureau on 16 July 2014. They searched my person, private car, Royal Mail van and my home but did they didn’t find anything. I was cautioned, interviewed and suspended. Later, I was cited in the criminal case against me. A disciplinary meeting was held 15 weeks later. An intolerable wait. I submitted a Statement as part of my defense, but the manager holding the meeting said it would have no bearing on his decision. I was dismissed on 5 December 2014 (my mum’s 83rd birthday). My appeal was heard on 8 January 2015, but the manager did not feel the concerns I was raising were credible. Why had they not searched me and my van as I turned out of the road at the Cupar Delivery Office on 16 July? This would have given them the concrete evidence that I did not have the items they allege I stole? Why had they not used CC TV, trackers on the envelopes or tracers on the contents? Not a huge investment to ensure an innocent man’s life and reputation were not ruined? The Procurator Fiscal threw out the case as there was ‘no evidence’ and I went on to raise an Employment Tribunal for Reinstatement. I won full reinstatement. Only 1% of Employment Tribunal Reinstatement cases win this. But Royal Mail say they will not reinstate me, which a ‘gap’ (or flaw?) in the law allows them to do. It has been 15 months since my nightmare began and my family has suffered alongside me. My health has suffered and though I look for alternative employment it is almost impossible under the circumstances. I am 100% innocent. I only want to go back to work and for my life to go back to some sort of normality. I am 57 years old, I have given Royal Mail the best years of my life. I stood up and tried to prove my innocence, and though this is impossible to do I did prove I could beat the odds. I won my case. If Royal Mail, will not do the Royal and honourable thing and reinstate me as Her Majesty’s judge has ordered please support me by signing my petition to demand that the law changes so that this cannot happen to any other innocent person.


Please sign

[bustedflush]

What I'd like to know is what is the CWU's stance on this? Surely they must support you and certainly have the funds to challenge RM here or get a summary ruling concerning the Judge's decision?

And yes I do think it's totally wrong that you'd have been better-off with a racist manager who wasn't Scottish using discriminatory acts and language against you and therefore unlimited compensation, whereas in this arguably more serious case the limits are pathetic compared to your losses - I am assuming here that as well as employment, future loss of earnings etc. that there has been the shares and pension too?

As I said in my previous post, a cynical and calculating person elsewhere could have easily set this situation up knowing you'd be accused. It's wrong that you should be left in legal 'no-man's land'.

[DB1100]

We should have a national walkout till he get's reinstated,then maybe another innocent person won't be treated like this.

[NWpostie]

We should have a national walkout till he get's reinstated,then maybe another innocent person won't be treated like this.

+1

[Spedley]

The way it is worded makes him sound guilty - it implies that he was the only one in contact with the item which went missing. Perhaps that is true, perhaps not.

It would take an idiot to steel multiple cards from your own delivery and not expect to get caught but an idiot would also be caught in possession of the stolen items.

It seems to me that the most likely answer is the truth - the IB made assumptions about who had access to the test letters and they were wrong.

[bustedflush]

I ask again - WHERE IS THE CWU ON THIS????

[Lounge Lizard]

I ask again - WHERE IS THE CWU ON THIS????

Maybe he wasn't a member.

[meercat]

I ask again - WHERE IS THE CWU ON THIS????

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THEM TO DO????

The whole point behind that change.org petition is to CHANGE THE LAW on this issue. I think you are over-estimating the power of the CWU if you think they can close the 'gap' in the law or force RM to reinstate this guy. What powers would they use for force RM to reinstate? There are none.