Keroche Breweries Ltd has been ordered to pay Sh45.5 million to its former managing director Sam Shollei for unfair and wrongful dismissal.
Judge Hellen Wasilwa of the Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled that the brewer failed to provide Shollei with the reason for his dismissal. It also did not subject him to any disciplinary procedure before firing him in 2018.
“As provided under Section 45(2) of the Employment Act 2007, the termination of the contract was unfair and unjustified,” said the judge.
Shollei sued the brewer for Sh75 million in damages for unfair and wrongful termination, claiming that the company failed to follow the disciplinary process and fired him for no reason.
He explained through lawyer Daniel Achach that on or about July 10, 2017, he signed a contract of employment with Keroche Breweries as a managing director – effective October 1, 2017, for a term of four years, earning a gross monthly salary of Sh2.5 million and other benefits and bonuses.
“The contract provided that it could be terminated by either party giving the other three months’ notice or paying three months’ salary in lieu of notice. But this was later extended to six months,” he had claimed in court documents.
He claimed that due to an agreement with the Company and political instability in the country following the general elections, the reporting date was pushed back to January 2018.
“It was a common understanding and agreement however that for the delayed period of October to December 2017, I would be paid half of the salary,” Shollei had argued.
The former MD revealed that he was fired on November 12, 2018, after returning from leave and being denied access to his office, and that his staff informed him in a meeting that the CEO had informed them that he had been dismissed and should not be allowed access to the office.
He claimed that the human resources department later called his personal assistant and handed him cheques totaling Sh7 million in his name, purportedly for his terminal dues.
“I was not informed of the reason for the dismissal nor was I subjected to any disciplinary process as such the termination was unlawful in the eyes of the law,” he argued.
In response, the company stated that it terminated Shollei’s contract procedurally due to poor performance.
It claimed that Shollei was constantly at odds with top management’s policies and ideologies, and that he tried on numerous occasions to impose his strategies to the detriment of the company’s success.
According to the company, Shollei was paid Sh7 million in lieu of notice, which included his monthly pay and salary.
Justice Wasilwa of the Nakuru Employment and Labour Relations Court dismissed Keroche Breweries’ claim, noting that there was no evidence that Shollei was subjected to performance contracting or that his poor performance was proven based on set targets or deliberations.
“No disciplinary hearing was conducted…The claimant was further terminated without being given notice and so he is entitled to notice pay,” said the judge.
