Postman Roo Rawal unfairly sacked by Royal Mail for urinating on his round

A postman was unfairly sacked by Royal Mail for taking a wee in public, a tribunal has ruled, after hearing other posties routinely get caught relieving themselves and keep their jobs.

Roo Rawal was dismissed for gross misconduct after a member of the public filmed him urinating in a lay-by after getting caught short while driving his delivery van.

But the veteran postie named at least 12 colleagues who had also peed in public and not been fired, with the tribunal hearing of some who had been nabbed taking a leak in people’s gardens.

One postman told the hearing ‘there was not a post person alive, man or woman, who… had not been caught short…and had to urinate in public.’

The murky issue of how postmen respond to calls of nature while doing their rounds was laid bare at an employment tribunal in Watford, Herts.

The hearing was told Mr Rawal had worked at the town’s depot for 17 years and had also been a Health and Safety officer for the CWU union.

In September 2017 his bosses received an emailed complaint from a member of the public to say they were ‘completely shocked’ to have seen a postman urinating on the side of the road in the town.

They had captured the moment on a dashcam video, they said.

‘It was really upsetting seeing someone doing that on the street, especially someone from a big, famous and professional company as Royal Mail,’ the complaint read.

‘That’s a very busy street where even children can see him. We can confirm we are still distressed by this disturbing behaviour and we really hope you will do something about it.’

When confronted about the incident, Mr Rawal at first said he couldn’t remember it but later admitted that he had got so desperate to pee he couldn’t wait until he got to a nearby supermarket to use the facilities.

He was sacked later that year by bosses at Royal Mail for gross misconduct.

But the tribunal was told of two specific cases – including one where a postie weed next to a front door – where the culprits had been caught by customers urinating on their property and had not been fired.

Veteran postman Adam Hicks told the hearing it happens ‘all the time’.

‘Due to the nature of their job and the lack of facilities that there are instances where postman who are desperately bursting to go to the toilet, we have no option but to urinate while on duty,’ he said.

Another, Nicholas Williams, told the panel he had been personally caught urinating by a customer, but had not been formally disciplined.

And postman Abdulraheem Khalifah said it was ‘common knowledge’ at the depot that several postmen had been caught relieving themselves in public but had not been fired.

One had urinated in someone’s garden and received only a ‘slapped wrist’, the tribunal heard.

The tribunal concluded that Mr Rawal – who was once photographed with boxer Anthony Joshua next to the Olympic champion’s gold post box in Watford – had been unfairly dismissed.

‘We have heard convincing evidence from postmen…that there are occasions when individuals, who routinely work away from toilet facilities, are caught short, for whatever reason.

‘Mr Rawal has shown…that a significant number of his colleagues who were not office-based have at one point or another within long careers have been caught short and urinated in a public place.

‘This is not an uncommon matter that (Royal Mail) must deal with.’

The tribunal said that as there was no evidence that any of the postmen caught urinating had been formally disciplined, Royal Mail must rank the offence ‘at the less serious end of the misconduct scale.’

Instead, the tribunal concluded that the real reason for Mr Rawal’s dismissal was his poor relationship with manager Simon Maddy, caused by disputes the pair had has in his role as a Health and Safety representative for the CWU.

The panel dismissed Mr Rawal’s claim of racial discrimination.