Dundee Postie Sacked For 'losing' Bag Of Mail Wins Five-figure Royal Mail Payout

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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A Dundee postie who was sacked for “losing” a bag of mail which fell out of his van is in line for a hefty payout after Royal Mail lost its appeal against a tribunal decision.

Stewart Walker was sacked after the incident in Broughty Ferry in 2015 when he was alleged to have lost mail, failed to secure his work van and failed to report the missing mail immediately.

An employment tribunal unanimously ruled Royal Mail had acted unfairly in dismissing him.

However, the company refused to accept the ruling and appealed the decision.



Now a tribunal judge Lady Wise has rejected the appeal but reduced Mr Walker’s backdated holiday pay entitlement almost five-fold from £1,054.99 to £218.27.

Mr Walker, 40, of Tealing, was sacked after the mailbag was found in the street and handed in to nearby Barnhill Post Office by a resident.

He initially thought he had been alone in the van when the bag was lost and took responsibility.

But when he was told where the bag had been found, he realised a colleague had been with him at that time and may have been responsible for the loss.

However, Mr Walker was suspended and later sacked for gross misconduct while his colleague kept his job.


Speaking to the Tele, Mr Walker said: “This has proved to be very stressful for me over the past two years. I had a clean record with Royal Mail for more than 20 years.

“This has had a completely devastating effect on me.

“I have been forced to retrain at my own expense. I’m not happy with what I am being offered.

“I have lost savings. My pension has been affected and I am concerned I have lost shares worth thousands of pounds.”

The matter will now go to a remedy hearing to determine the amount Royal Mail must pay in compensation.

Ryan Russell, a partner in Muir Myles Laverty Solicitors, said: “This judgment is final vindication of Mr Walker’s case and full and final proof that Royal Mail acted wrongly in dismissing Mr Walker.

“We believe they acted unnecessarily in dismissing him in the first place and again by appealing the proper judgment of the employment tribunal.”

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “Royal Mail is disappointed with the tribunal’s decision in this case. Royal Mail will continue to treat cases of alleged misconduct extremely seriously and take action accordingly.

“We note that the tribunal has not ordered Royal Mail to reinstate Mr Walker, despite this being the remedy he sought, because the tribunal determined that it was not practicable for Royal Mail to do so, given that he had admitted to a fairly serious breach of discipline.

“Due to this admission, any award made to Mr Walker will be subject to a reduction of 50% as a result of his contributory conduct.”

[jack~jack]

The royalmail spokeswoman sounds very pleased with herself. Does she eat small children too. It must feel good to crush this man's life.

[Creditshampoo]

So £200 not a five figure amount

[Lounge Lizard]

So £200 not a five figure amount

But count the pennies and maybe £200.00 or £218.27 is.

[General Mannerheim]

“We note that the tribunal has not ordered Royal Mail to reinstate Mr Walker, despite this being the remedy he sought, because the tribunal determined that it was not practicable for Royal Mail to do so, given that he had admitted to a fairly serious breach of discipline.

“Due to this admission, any award made to Mr Walker will be subject to a reduction of 50% as a result of his contributory conduct.”

And even if they did order to reinstate they would not do it.
Also it's up to the judge at the remedy hearing to decide how much reduction there may be taken off for liability and not some smug Royal Mail mouthpiece.

So £200 not a five figure amount

That was just his backdated holiday pay, your looking at a much larger figure with unfair dismissal and loss of wages, pension, shares etc.

[rubberbond]

From what I read on these pages, Royal Mail seem to lose a lot of tribunals. I wonder why.

[datasaint]

What happened to genuine mistakes not being counted under the conduct code?

It's not unheard of for a van door not to close properly (some of the locks are semi-knackered too will only engage at top or bottom, the Fiat vans in particular you have to slam shut the door to get it to engage) if there's a bag strap on the lock, you drive up hill the weight of the bag presses on the door and falls out?

Unless this person had a prior record I can't see why one incident would justify this sort of penalty?

[GT750rider]

What happened to genuine mistakes not being counted under the conduct code?

It's not unheard of for a van door not to close properly (some of the locks are semi-knackered too will only engage at top or bottom, the Fiat vans in particular you have to slam shut the door to get it to engage) if there's a bag strap on the lock, you drive up hill the weight of the bag presses on the door and falls out?

Unless this person had a prior record I can't see why one incident would justify this sort of penalty?

If a van door won't close properly, then log it off. I just don't see why a van is taken out on delivery if it has obvious faults. I once parked alongside a van that had half a tyre bald. I left a note on the steering wheel in case the driver had missed it ( mind you, I don't see how it could have been missed ) Guess what ? Yes, the same van was there the following day with the same bald tyre.