Postman wins payout after taking mail home overnight

A ROYAL MAIL postman who took more than 130 parcels home with him overnight has won an unfair dismissal case.

Walacy Ramos was fired by the postal service after he took undelivered mail home without permission.

Mr Ramos said he was feeling ill during his shift in December 2018 and it was getting dark, so he decided to take his trolley to his house and complete his round on his day off.

His Royal Mail colleagues caught him delivering the mail in London a day late and he was dismissed.

Now, he is in line to receive compensation after suing Royal Mail for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal.

Mr Ramos, who began working for Royal Mail in 2012, was based in Cat- ford, London, the tribunal in Croydon, London, heard. He had previously been signed off from work with stress and suffered panic attacks after finding it hard to adapt to an office job in 2018.

He was suspended pending an investigation for “alleged wilful delay, and breaching security standards” and dismissed without notice in February 2019.

The tribunal ruled he had been dismissed unfairly as Royal Mail did not take his mental health issues into account and the sanction was too harsh.

Employment Judge Rachel Beckett said: “Could a reasonable employer have decided to dismiss Mr Ramos for acting in the way he did in this case? I find that they could not.”

Compensation will be decided at a future remedy hearing.