MR R RAWAL v Royal Mail Group Limited — 2017

The claimant was dismissed after a customer complaint that he had urinated in a public place while on duty. The tribunal found that his conduct began the disciplinary process, but that the decision maker's reasons for dismissal also included expanded conduct matters concerning alleged loss of faith, dishonesty, breakdown in trust and an alleged harassment issue that had not been properly investigated or notified as a charge.

The tribunal found that the poor relationship between the claimant and his line manager was a reason for dismissal, and that the principal reason for that poor relationship was the claimant's trade union activities. It concluded that the principal reason for dismissal was therefore the claimant's trade union activities, so the dismissal was automatically unfair. In the alternative, the tribunal found the investigation and procedure unreasonable and concluded that dismissal fell outside the range of reasonable responses.

The race discrimination claim was dismissed. The tribunal found that some proposed comparators were not in materially similar circumstances, and that a hypothetical comparator would need to share both the urination allegation and the perceived breakdown in relationship with the direct line manager. It found no evidence that the strained relationship or the decision to dismiss was because of race or ethnic origin, and held that the claimant had not established a prima facie case; alternatively, the respondent had shown a non-discriminatory reason.