Postman who was sacked by Royal Mail for urinating on his round wins almost £40,000

A postman who was unfairly sacked by Royal Mail for urinating in public has won nearly £40,000 after a tribunal heard ‘there is not a post person alive’ who has not had to.

Roo Rawal was dismissed from Royal Mail’s Watford depot for gross misconduct after a member of the public filmed him relieving himself in a lay-by after getting caught short while driving his delivery van.

But the veteran postman named at least 12 colleagues who had also urinated in public and not been fired – with some doing so 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.’

Now Mr Rawal has been awarded £37,720 in compensation after Royal Mail was judged to have dismissed him unfairly.

The tribunal – which dismissed a claim of racial discrimination – concluded that his dismissal was caused by his poor relationship with manager Simon Maddy.

The pair had disputes within Mr Rawal’s role as Health and Safety officer for the CWU union, the tribunal heard.

The issue of how postmen deal with needing to use the lavatory while doing their rounds was laid bare at an employment tribunal last year in Watford, Hertfordshire.

The hearing was told Mr Rawal had worked at the town’s depot for 17 years.

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.

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

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 (pictured) – had been unfairly dismissed

‘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 from his £30,000-a-year job 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 urinated 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’.

He said: ‘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.’

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.

Mr Rawal has been awarded £37,720 in compensation after Royal Mail was judged to have dismissed him unfairly

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. 

In a judgment published today, Royal Mail was ordered to pay the former postman a total of £37,720.98, made up of a basic award of £8068.50 and a compensatory award of £29,652.48.