Mr R Lockyer v Royal Mail Group Limited — 2019

The Claimant withdrew his unpaid wages and redundancy payment claims. At the start of the hearing he applied to amend his claim to add wrongful dismissal or notice pay, but the Tribunal refused the application after considering Selkent principles, the expired primary time limit, the absence of an explanation for delay, and prejudice to the Respondent.

The only remaining claim was unfair dismissal. The Claimant, a long-serving postman, was dismissed after a Special Delivery item was delivered to a bank one minute after the guaranteed time. The Tribunal found that the Respondent genuinely believed the Claimant had committed misconduct, and that this belief was based on reasonable grounds after a reasonable investigation. It noted the Claimant's experience, his knowledge of Special Delivery requirements, the noon PDA alert, his control over the order of deliveries, and his awareness that the bank might involve queuing.

The Tribunal accepted that Mr Peter had muddled matters at the dismissal stage by combining the current incident with the Claimant's disciplinary history and describing the matter as gross misconduct. However, it found that any defects were remedied on appeal. Ms Knight-Smith reheard the matter, approached the appeal with an open mind, took account of the Claimant's long service and live warnings, and concluded dismissal was appropriate. The Tribunal held that dismissal fell within the band of reasonable responses and that the Claimant was not unfairly dismissed.