600,000 pounds, or approximately PLN 3.2 million – this is the amount of compensation received by British Post employees wrongly accused in connection with the scandal regarding faulty software – reported the Guardian newspaper website.
Employees who were wrongly convicted of theft and accounting fraud and had their convictions overturned will receive compensation from the government. They will be given to every employee of a British postal operator convicted in the so-called Horizon scandal, described as “the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history”.
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 British Post employees were accused of theft, fraud and false accounting, which was caused by faulty Horizon accounting software installed in the late 1990s.
Compensation for postal workers
So far, the British government has paid £21 million in compensation to 86 postal workers due to wrongful convictions, reports the Guardian.
“This is about righting a wrong and providing some justice to those wrongly caught up in this scandal,” said Kevin Hollinrake, the British business secretary in charge of British Post.
UK Government also announced that, in addition to compensation, each injured party will be reimbursed for legal fees. Any injured party who decides not to accept this offer can still litigate individually. In addition, those employees who have already concluded a settlement with British Post or received other compensation whose value is lower than PLN 600,000. pounds, an additional fee is payable.
Tragic consequences of a faulty system
The system installed by British Post resulted in hundreds of employees being charged with theft and embezzlement. Some of them served prison sentences, and at least four people committed suicide because of it.
In 2021, the government awarded compensation of PLN 100,000 to all victims. pounds, which was later increased to 163,000. – recalled “The Guardian”.
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