A Royal Mail employee of Indian descent has received nearly £2.3 million (about Rs 24 crore) in compensation after an employment tribunal found that her accusations of bullying were true, marking an important win against workplace harassment. This is one of the largest settlements for compensation ever made, according to reports.
What was her case?
Jhuthi began working for the postal service in 2013 as a media expert at its MarketReach division in London at a salary of 50,000 pounds. The following month, while shadowing a colleague, she grew suspicious that they were not abiding by the company’s policy regarding Tailor-Made Incentives (TMIs), which she claimed helped the colleague hit performance goals and directly secured a bonus for herself and “in effect defrauded the company,” according to a newspaper report.
Later that month, a TMI industry professional who acknowledged that media experts were providing TMIs “inappropriately” backed up Jhuti’s earlier claims. When Kam Jhuti voiced her worries about a colleague obtaining an unauthorized bonus, her supervisor allegedly intimidated and harassed her, according to Kam Jhuti, who had filed her complaint almost eight years ago.
According to reports, the tribunal decided that her boss’ behaviour towards Jhuti was “catastrophic” and had a profoundly negative effect on her. The tribunal said in a recently rendered remedy judgement that was attached to the lengthy case, “The total award by the respondent to the claimant amounts to GBP 2,365,614.13.” Payment of the award is, however, put on hold while Royal Mail appeals the tribunal’s interim remedy judgement, which was sent to the parties concerned on October 3, 2022. It is possible for both parties to ask for the suspension to be lifted.
The judgement further said that as part of the overall compensation amount, which was agreed upon by both parties, Royal Mail must promptly pay Jhuti £250,000 gross. This payment must be made within 14 days of the hearing date, and it cannot be suspended.
The postal service engaged in “high-handed, malicious, insulting, and oppressive” behaviour throughout the case, the tribunal had earlier decided.
As the probe went on, Jhuti became anxious and voiced her worries about her boss’s actions. She was given a new line manager, but because of the slow development, she was diagnosed with work-related stress, anxiety, and depression in March 2014. She didn’t go back to work again.
Jhuti’s accusations of an unjust dismissal during an initial employment tribunal in 2015 were sustained when the Supreme Court decided in her favour. The Royal Mail is presently required to pay just £250,000 of the total compensation sum since an appeal is still underway.
