Postman sacked for routinely driving van after drinking beer – tribunal

A Newtown postman was sacked after he routinely drove his Royal Mail van after drinking beer, a tribunal heard.

Ian Partington admitted stopping at the pub for a pint then driving his van home twice a week after work and was even caught with a can of lager in the vehicle.

Partington, who also regularly stopped at Iceland to buy beer on his way home, claimed his behaviour was ‘perfectly acceptable conduct’.

After Royal Mail sacked him for gross misconduct, Partington tried to sue the postal firm for unfair dismissal.

However, Partington lost his case at an employment tribunal.

A Cardiff employment tribunal heard Partington was based at the Royal Mail delivery office in Newtown for five years until his dismissal in July 2019.

When a beer can was found in Partington’s van in April 2019 as he returned the vehicle to the office, he explained he had drunk it at home then ‘left in a rush and entered the van not realising he still had the can in his hand’.

Partington, who was never found to have driven over the limit, even claimed that the Royal Mail’s policies were ‘flawed’ because ‘individuals are technically under the influence when using hand sanitiser containing alcohol’.

Dismissing his claims, employment judge Gareth Duncan said: “I asked [Partington] to state exactly what he felt that he had done wrong. He answered ‘nothing’.

“He maintains that stopping off at the shop or pub, or drinking a can of lager before driving a van back to the office, or stopping off in that van to consume a pint of beer before travelling the rest of the route home, is perfectly acceptable conduct.

“The Royal Mail considers that the nature of those breaches was serious and significant. In my view, this is a stance that they were perfectly entitled to take.

“Partington, as an individual highly trained in respect of the impact of drugs and alcohol, was acutely aware that the Royal Mail took very seriously any such behaviour relating to driving under the influence.”

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