Postman wins 5 figure sum after being dismissed for mourning his dog

A postman has won a five-figure compensation sum from the Royal Mail - after he was sacked for taking a week off work to grieve over his dead dog.

David Portman, was absent for a total of 137 days during just five years in the job, when he took yet more time off after his dog died he was dismissed from his job. Mr Portman has now received undisclosed compensation of at at least £10,000 after winning a claim for unfair dismissal at the Sheffield Employment Tribunal.

The Tribunal decided his absences from work were all legitimate and usually through injuries suffered in the course of his duties and that his dismissal was unfair. 

The employment tribunal stated that "the vast majority of the claimant's absence days were occasioned through injuries sustained in accidents at work; which should have been discounted by the Royal Mail.   None of the claimant's absences were for other than wholly legitimate and genuine reasons.'