Bullied Indian-origin employee wins Royal Mail compensation of Rs. 24 crores in UK
London, Jul 10: In what is believed to be one of the largest compensation settlements for the UK's Royal Mail, an Indian-origin employee has been awarded more than 2.3 million pounds after her bullying claim was upheld.
Kam Jhuti had claimed before an employment tribunal dating back nearly eight years that she had been intimidated and harassed by her boss after she raised concerns that a colleague had secured their bonus illegitimately.
The tribunal went on to find that there had been a "catastrophic" impact on her over her boss' treatment of her, The Daily Telegraph' reports.
"The tribunal makes a total award of GBP 2,365,614.13, payable by the respondent to the claimant," reads an official remedy decision added to the long-running case this week.
"Subject to the paragraph below, payment of the award is stayed pending the outcome of the respondent's (Royal Mail) appeal against the tribunal's original judgment on remedies which was sent to the parties on October 3, 2022. Both parties have the liberty to apply to lift this stay," it reads.
"Of that total award, the respondent (Royal Mail) will, however, make payment of the sum of 250,000 pounds gross to the claimant; the stay does not, therefore, apply in relation to this sum. The parties agreed that the respondent will pay this sum to the claimant within 14 days of the date of this hearing," it adds.
Earlier, the tribunal had concluded that the postal service had been "high-handed, malicious, insulting and oppressive" in how it had conducted the case.
A 2019 Supreme Court hearing was told that Jhuti started work as a 50,000 pounds per year media specialist at the Royal Mail's MarketReach unit based in London in September 2013.
However, the following month, while shadowing a colleague, she began to suspect they were not following watchdog Ofcom's guidance and also breaching the company's policy in relation to bonuses known as Tailor-Made Incentives (TMIs), which she said helped the colleague to hit performance targets and directly securing a bonus for herself and "in effect defrauding the company", the newspaper reports.
Later that month, a TMI expert in the business confirmed Jhuti's previous allegations had been correct by acknowledging that media specialists were offering TMIs "inappropriately".
As the process unfolded, Jhuti began suffering from stress and went on to express concern over her boss's conduct.
She was granted a new line manager but was told she was not making the expected progress and in March 2014 was signed off with work-related stress, anxiety and depression, and never returned to work.
After taking Royal Mail to an initial employment tribunal in 2015, Jhuti's claims of unfair dismissal proceeded after the Supreme Court ruled in her favour.
As an appeal is pending in the case, the Royal Mail is expected to only make a payment of 250,000 pounds from the total compensation amount at this stage.
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Delhi Police apprehends 966 people in southeast Delhi ahead of New Year under Operation Aaghat 3.0
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has apprehended 966 people and seized arms, drugs, illegal liquor and vehicles during a large-scale preventive crackdown in southeast Delhi ahead of New Year celebrations, an official said on Saturday.
The operation, namely Operation Aaghat 3.0, was launched to curb organised crime, street offences and the activities of habitual criminals in view of heightened public movement during year-end festivities, they said.
Of the total, 331 accused were arrested under the Delhi Excise Act, NDPS Act and the Public Gambling Act, while 504 people were apprehended under various preventive provisions, the police said.
As part of targeted action, police apprehended 116 listed bad characters, arrested five auto-lifters and four proclaimed offenders, officials added.
During the operation, police recovered 21 country-made pistols, 20 live cartridges and 27 knives under the Arms Act. They also seized 12,258 quarters of illicit liquor, 6.01 kg of ganja and Rs 2.36 lakh from gamblers.
A total of 310 mobile phones, six two-wheelers and one four-wheeler were also recovered, the police said.
In addition, action was taken against 1,306 persons under the Delhi Police Act, while 231 two-wheelers were seized for violations, the officials said.
The crackdown was carried out with over 600 police personnel deployed across the district.
The police said the operation was aimed at preventing any untoward incident during New Year celebrations, particularly in residential areas and jhuggi clusters, and to deter organised crime networks and habitual offenders.
Officials said stringent legal provisions, including sections 111 and 112 of the BNS, would be invoked in suitable cases, and proposals for externment of repeat offenders were also being initiated.
The police added that intensified patrolling, vehicle checking and night surveillance had led to a reduction in PCR calls related to street crime in the district over the past month.
