Royal Mail to pay over £2.3 million to sacked employee in whistleblowing case

In a lengthy legal battle, an ex-Royal Mail employee who was dismissed for whistleblowing has been awarded over £2.3 million in compensation.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the employee, Kam Jhuti, a former media specialist was unfairly dismissed and subjected to detriments after raising concerns about breaches of Ofcom guidance and unfair employee bonus practices within Royal Mail Group's MarketReach unit, Personnel Today reported.

Detriments suffered by Jhuti included bullying, harassment, and intimidation by her manager, who imposed weekly one-to-one meetings and targets solely on her.

She was also asked to provide her key contacts from a previous job and offered compensation to leave Royal Mail.

Furthermore, it was revealed that the company deliberately delayed providing an outcome to her grievance and appeal.

Jhuti left the company in 2013 due to her treatment and subsequently experienced severe depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and post-traumatic stress disorder, rendering her unable to work.

The legal battle for compensation began in 2016 but faced numerous appeals, culminating in the Supreme Court's determination of automatic unfair dismissal.

Following a hearing in 2022, the employment tribunal recommended that Royal Mail pay £109,065 in compensation and £12,500 in aggravated damages.

However, an agreement on the final amount could not be reached due to disagreements over the calculation of future pension losses.

In February, another employment tribunal hearing was held, resulting in an order for Royal Mail to pay a total of £2,365,614.13 in compensation, covering detriments, past and future losses (including pension), a basic award, Acas uplift, and tax.

While Royal Mail apologised for its mistakes and expressed its zero-tolerance policy towards bullying and harassment, the company continues to appeal against the size and calculation of the award.

In the meantime, an interim payment to Jhuti is being sought.