J Harding v Royal Mail Group Limited — 2022

The claimant was dismissed for alleged gross misconduct after a Royal Mail vehicle he had parked rolled away and collided with a private car. He accepted that he knew the mandatory HIT procedure, had applied the handbrake but had not left the vehicle in gear or turned the wheels, and knew that breach of the procedure could lead to dismissal. The respondent relied on misconduct as the potentially fair reason for dismissal.

The Tribunal found that the respondent carried out a fair investigation overall. The vehicle was inspected and no handbrake fault was found, the claimant was told the charge and that dismissal was possible, and disciplinary and appeal hearings took place. The Tribunal accepted that a meeting under the union representative conduct process had occurred, and found that an error about the distance the vehicle rolled did not affect the fairness of the investigation or the outcome.

The Tribunal found that the claimant was not held to a higher standard because he was a Health and Safety and Trade Union representative; rather, his knowledge of the HIT procedure was a legitimate consideration. Although the decision to dismiss was described as harsh, the Tribunal concluded it was within the range of reasonable responses and that the respondent acted reasonably in treating the misconduct as sufficient reason for dismissal.