Postman wins £4,000 payout from Royal Mail as he suffered panic attack after being told to move to new depot

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A postman has won £4,000 from the Royal Mail for ‘injury to feelings’ after suffering a panic attack when he was moved to a new depot.

Paul Phillips suffered with anxiety and depression, an employment tribunal heard, and felt ‘additional stress’ at the prospect of having to spend more time commuting to and from work.

The delivery driver had been based at the Royal Mail’s Inverclyde delivery office, in Greenock, just four miles from his home.

But Mr Phillips had become involved in an altercation with another driver in February 2023, in which his employers ruled he ‘had acted aggressively’, and was transferred to the Erskine depot.

The day before he was set to start working at the new depot, which was 18 miles away, he had suffered a panic attack.

The postman had worked at Inverclyde Delivery Office, which was only a short drive from his home

He phoned Iain Dunn, the Royal Mail’s customer operations manager, on the morning of August 21 and told him he ‘was not in a good place mentally and did not feel fit to go to work in Erskine’.

Brian Campbell, the tribunal judge, ruled it was a combination of the relocation and other factors beyond Royal Mail’s control caused the panic attack.

In his ruling, the employment judge said: ‘[Mr Phillips] clearly experienced additional stress at the prospect of having to spend more time commuting to and from work and the knock-on effect that would have on his family life and responsibilities.

‘Together with other stressors, not the responsibility of [Royal Mail], the factors combined to cause a panic attack.’

Mr Campbell ruled Royal Mail should pay £4,000 for injury to feelings and a further award of more than £2,000 for lost wages.

Mr Phillips original depot was a 12 minute drive away from his home, and he had use of a Royal Mail van.

But when he was moved to Erskine his commute more than trebled, with a 40 minute bus journey and a walk of around half an hour.

After he was told of the transfer to Erskine Mr Phillips said he was not able to travel there, with his wife needing his family’s only car and public transport would mean he was travelling for around four hours a day.

And it did not run early enough on Saturday’s for the claimant to get to work on time using it.

He had tried to arrange use of a van from Erskine, but was told he could not, and that Inverclyde could not let him continue because of operational reasons.

Mr Phillips said the way he was treated amounted to disability discrimination.

The tribunal was told he suffered from anxiety and depression.

It was told symptoms, which he has had since at least 2013, included becoming debilitated to the point of not being able to drive or work.

He started at the Royal Mail in October 2021, and between December 2022 and August last year has experienced three or four panic attacks.

Mr Phillips has also had time off sick because of the attacks, including two weeks off in December 2022.

But his mental state deteriorated after a disciplinary hearing after the February 2023 incident which saw him handed a suspended dismissal and a transfer.

He had appealed, and on the morning he was expected to start working in Erskine told Mr Dunn the uncertainty surrounding the disciplinary appeal was ‘hanging over’ him.

But staff at Royal Mail told Mr Phillips he was being treated as ‘uncooperative’ under their sick pay policy.

Mr Phillips had been transferred to another depot 18 miles away in Erskine

His absence records stated he was off ‘sick, non-cooperation’ for 49 days between August 21 to October 8.

In submissions, the ruling said, managers did it ‘with the genuine motive of applying the sick pay policy fairly and not our of malice’.

Mr Phillips, who has now been offered the temporary use of a work van, has now settled at the Erskine depot.

He is now ‘enjoying his work among colleagues he considers supportive and understanding’, the tribunal said.

The Glasgow-based tribunal said the ‘injury to feelings’ award should sit at £4,000, with the ‘relatively short-term nature of the detriment and the fact its effects cased entirely’ cited.

It also said Royal Mail made unlawful deductions from his wages, and were ordered to pay £2,125.18.

The Royal Mail was approached for comment.

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