Mr N Younus v Royal Mail Group Limited — 2020

The claimant was employed as a postman and was dismissed after a bundle of mail went missing during his delivery round on 12 December 2018. The respondent relied on conduct, including failure to report loss of mail, failure to safeguard mail, and overloading a lightweight trolley. The claimant accepted that he knew he should have told his manager on the day, but said he had made a mistake and had been embarrassed.

The tribunal found that the respondent complied with its own procedures and the ACAS Code of Practice. It accepted that the respondent believed the claimant was guilty of misconduct, had reasonable grounds for that belief, and had carried out a reasonable investigation, including appeal-stage enquiries with employees who had trained or worked with the claimant.

The tribunal rejected the claimant's challenges based on training, normal practice, and what he said his colleague had told him. It found that dismissal was within the band of reasonable responses, having regard to the importance of mail security and integrity and the findings that the claimant did not report the missing post when he spoke to his manager, later that day, or when he arrived for work the next day.