Mrs A Roberts v Post Office Ltd — 2021

Mrs A Roberts was dismissed without notice on 27 February 2020 after taking £2,000 from the Fullhurst Avenue post office branch on 24 January 2020 and returning it by secure delivery the next day. The tribunal found that the respondent dismissed her for conduct, and accepted that it genuinely believed she had been guilty of potential theft.

The tribunal nevertheless held that the dismissal was unfair because the respondent did not have reasonable grounds for that belief and did not carry out as much investigation as was reasonable in the circumstances. It considered this to be a serious allegation of theft against a long-serving employee in a position of trust, so a careful and thorough investigation was required. The tribunal found gaps in the fact-finding by Michael Shields, and further flaws in the disciplinary and appeal stages.

In particular, the tribunal noted that Jay was not interviewed at the disciplinary stage, the disciplinary and appeal decision-makers did not visit the branch, and they did not view the CCTV footage. It also held that insufficient weight was given to the claimant's prompt calls to Jay and Vijay after leaving the branch, her clean disciplinary record, the evidence that she was stressed and under pressure in her new role, and the lack of proper inquiry into her financial circumstances or any realistic motive for theft. The tribunal concluded that the appeal did not cure these defects and left questions of remedy, Polkey, contribution and any ACAS uplift to the remedy hearing.