Mr P Kirby v Royal Mail Group Limited — 2022

The claimant was employed as a postman and was dismissed following events on 5 to 7 October 2019, including refusing to commence his delivery round, Facebook posts about colleagues, and behaviour towards managers. The Tribunal found the respondent had a genuine belief on reasonable grounds, after a reasonable investigation, that the claimant had committed misconduct. It found dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses.

The respondent accepted that the claimant had a disability arising from stress, anxiety and depression. The Tribunal found the claimant's conduct was not involuntarily caused by his mental health condition and accepted occupational health evidence that he retained capacity and control over his actions and choices. It dismissed the section 15 claim and also found that suspension and dismissal would in any event be proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim of requiring employees to follow policies and codes of conduct.

The Tribunal accepted that the claimant's anonymous helpline call amounted to a qualifying and protected disclosure. It found, however, that the relevant decision-makers did not know the claimant had made the call and that the disclosure had no influence on the decisions to suspend, dismiss or reject the appeal. The reasonable adjustment complaints were dismissed on the merits and, in several respects, as out of time. The victimisation complaints were also dismissed because the alleged protected acts had no influence on the dismissal or appeal decision.