A POSTMAN was sacked when he exposed his boss as a "swinger" on a wife-swapping website, a tribunal has heard.

Postie David Cain claims he was sexually harassed by acting depot manager Peter Neesham.

But, reluctant to tell Royal Mail chiefs because he feared no action would be taken, Mr Cain and fellow colleagues decided to take matters into their own hands.

Pretending to be a would-be wife-swapper, Mr Cain began contacting the manager through Internet chatroom he was known to use. And, when he eventually arranged a meeting at a pub, half a dozen other mail room staff from the main sorting depot in Stockton, Teesside, were on hand to catch the unsuspecting post chief.

An employment tribunal heard how, when bosses at Royal Mail got wind of the set-up, Mr Cain was accused of bringing the Royal Mail into disrepute and was dismissed for harassment and bullying.

Now married Mr Cain, 33, of Whitehouse Road, Billingham, Teesside - who had a 16-year unblemished work record - is claiming unfair dismissal from his £17,000-a-year job.

He denies harassment and bullying. He also claims a decision to sack him was made before a full investigation into his conduct was completed.

The employment tribunal in Thornaby, Teesside, was told how Mr Cain had suffered stress and ill-health brought on by the alleged behaviour of 25-year-old Mr Neesham.

Mr Cain said, over a period of months, he had suffered unwanted attention from Mr Neesham, who would regularly put his arm around him. Mr Cain told the hearing that complaints of bullying or harassment against senior management were never dealt with properly, so he was reluctant to complain about Mr Neesham.

When Mr Cain and his work colleagues discovered from another postal worker that Mr Neesham used an internet wife-swap chatroom called swing2us.com, they decided to catch him red-handed.

Using a bogus name, Mr Cain made contact with Mr Neesham - who called himself Peter Jones on the website. They talked in chatrooms about their sexual preferences and then exchanged e-mails.

He even e-mailed a picture of himself and his girlfriend to Mr Cain.

Mr Neesham arrived for a meeting at the Smiths Arms in Carlton, Teesside in November 2002 and Mr Cain and his friends were lying in wait. As he arrived, Mr Neesham realised he had been "set up" and fled before anyone could confront him.

The posties even had a t-shirt made for their victim with the words "Super Bi-Guy" written on it and pictured themselves with it in the pub car park.

Afterwards Mr Cain sent e-mails to Mr Neesham showing the workers with the T-shirt in the pub car park.

Mr Neesham, who is now employed as a night-shift manager at the main sorting office in Middlesbrough, never complained to his bosses at Royal Mail.

But another manager who knew of the plot raised the alarm.

He confessed to the plot to set up Mr Neesham and, during his interview, lodged a formal complaint of sexual harassment against the manager.

Following the Royal Mail probe Mr Cain was sacked for bullying and harassment in February, 2003. A manager who knew of the plot was also dismissed.

Mike Rayner, Area Planning and Systems Manager, decided to dismiss Mr Cain.

He said that Mr Cain never asked Mr Neesham to stop putting his arm around him and he could have gone to his union or the Royal Mail personnel department if he felt harassed or intimidated.

Five other postman who were also investigated along with Mr Cain received serious warnings which will remain on their work records for two years following the incident.

The tribunal continues.