Royal Mail Group Ltd

Case Summary

The claimant appealed the Employment Tribunal's dismissal of his claim under section 152 TULR(C)A 1992. He had been dismissed for gross misconduct after posting two messages in a CWU WhatsApp group during an industrial dispute, including one stating 'Fuck Royal Mail' and another referencing violence. The ET concluded neither message amounted to participation in trade union activities. The EAT dismissed the appeal, holding the Tribunal correctly approached the characterisation question as an evaluative exercise of fact and degree, and was entitled to conclude the posts were not properly characterised as participation in trade union activities.

The EAT held that the question whether particular conduct constitutes participation in trade union activities is inherently fact-sensitive and evaluative. The Tribunal was entitled to approach the matter as one of characterisation and, on a common-sense assessment of the facts, determine that the conduct was properly not to be regarded as participation in trade union activities. The Tribunal did not fail to grapple with industrial context or treat the forum as determinative, and its reasoning disclosed no identifiable flaw justifying appellate interference.

Use these claim-type pages to compare this decision with other published tribunal cases, outcome patterns, and visible award data.

• •Whether dismissal for posting messages in trade union WhatsApp group constituted dismissal for participation in trade union activities under section 152 TULR(C)A 1992
• •Whether conduct consisting of abusive or threatening language can fall within scope of statutory protection for trade union activities
• •Application of Lyon v St James Press Ltd and Bass Taverns Ltd v Burgess principles
• •Whether posts constituted 'wholly unreasonable, extraneous or malicious' conduct
• •Proper characterisation of conduct occurring during industrial dispute

The full source document is available from the official publication page.