A former employee of a multi-national audit company will smile all the way to the bank after a Nairobi Court awarded him Ksh379 million for unfair dismissal.
The Business Daily reported that the employee, Richard Ndung'u, filed a suit claiming that he was forced out of employment eight years before his retirement.
"I find and hold that the claimant has suffered loss and damages as a result of the conduct of the respondents towards him since the commencement of investigations against him from October 3, 2016, culminating in his purported compulsory retirement on January 13, 2017 and the announcement," stated Justice Francis Tuiyott.
According to court documents, the complainant's woes are said to have begun in 2016 after he was summoned following claims of inappropriate behaviour with his assistant.
He then surrendered his personal phone for an investigation that followed.
He was ordered to take a two-day off but was later dismissed from his job from the firm under unclear circumstances.
Later that year, Ndung'u filed a suit seeking payment of Ksh820 million, claiming that is the amount he would have earned until his retirement age of 60 years in 2024.
Ndung'u claimed that he was unfairly targeted and that he faced intimidation.
In his ruling, however, the judge reduced the damage payment after establishing that although Ndung'u had not issued a formal notice, he had hinted that he was exiting the firm on August 31, 2019.
"To therefore award him damages for a period beyond that would be to put him in a better position than he would have been, had he retired on August 31, 2019 as had unequivocally stated," continued the judge.
When he initially filed the suit, an arbitrator awarded him Ksh460 million, as per the then exchange rates and directed that the money be subject to five percent interest until the company settled it.
Ndung'u, however, moved to the High Court to appeal the ruling where he had his award reviewed downwards.
