Hon. Justice Zaynab Bashir of the Port Harcourt Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court has declared the termination of Mr Ikejiaku’s employment by Isokariari and Sons as wrongful.
The Court ordered Isokariari and Sons to compute and pay Mr Ikejiaku his leave allowance for the year 2020 in accordance with the applicable terms and conditions of his employment, and to pay him the sum of N350k as his salary for October 2020, and N350k as one month’s salary in lieu of notice.
Justice Bashir further ordered Isokariari and Sons to pay Mr Ikejiaku the sum of N700k as costs of the action and dismissed the counterclaim of Isokariari and Sons in its entirety for lacking merit.
The Court ordered that all monetary sums awarded be paid within 30 days from the date of the judgment.
From the facts, the Claimant, Mr. Ikejiaku, submitted that in addition to his salary, he was entitled to several allowances, including outstation allowance and transfer allowance, but that Isokariari and Sons failed to pay the agreed allowances when he was instructed to proceed outside the company’s designated locations to perform official functions.
In addition, Mr Ikejiaku averred that he incurred certain costs for the repair of the company generator with the approval of the Managing Director, but the Company refused to refund the money incurred; he also averred that he was owed his October 2020 salary and other allowances at the time of the termination of his employment.
In defence, Learned Counsel for the Defendant argued that Mr Ikejiaku failed to prove his monetary claims, maintaining that his Contract of Employment did not provide for outstation allowance and that there was no evidence establishing the basis for the N310k claimed.
Isokariari and Sons maintained that Mr Ikejiaku’s appointment was terminated pursuant to paragraph (o) of the Offer of Appointment and contended that Mr Ikejiaku had been instructed to hand over all company documents and properties in his possession but failed to do so.
Counsel also argued that Mr Ikejiaku failed to establish that he obtained approval to incur the N297k claimed for the repair of the generator and failed to prove his claim for leave allowance.
In opposition, Mr Ikejiaku’s counsel, E.C Nnachukwu Esq, argued that the provisions relating to dismissal in paragraph (o) were inapplicable because Isokariari and Sons’ letter expressly used the word “termination”.
In a well-considered judgment, Justice Zaynab Bashir held that the relationship between Mr Ikejiaku and Isokariari and Sons was that of master and servant under the common law, regulated by the terms of the employment.
The Court held that Mr Ikejiaku bore the burden of proving not only the existence of the Contract of Employment but also the terms of the contract which Isokariari and Sons breached in bringing the employment to an end.
The Court held that negligence and fraudulence are not synonymous concepts in law, stating that negligence connotes a failure to exercise the degree of care, skill or diligence expected in a given circumstance, whereas fraud implies deliberate deception, dishonesty and intentional wrongdoing.
The Court found that while the query issued to Ikejiaku suggested negligence, the letter of termination predicated the termination on fraudulence, and held that Ikejiaku was denied the right to a fair hearing in the determination of his employment on the ground of fraudulent acts.
Justice Bashir held that having chosen to terminate the employment relationship, Isokariari and Sons was bound by the contractual conditions regulating termination, including the obligation to give one month’s notice or pay one month’s salary instead of notice.
The Court found no evidence that Mr Ikejiaku was given the requisite notice or paid one month’s salary instead of notice and consequently held that the termination was wrongful.
However, the Court refused Mr Ikejiaku’s claim for N310k as outstation allowance, holding that he failed to strictly prove the contractual basis for the alleged allowance.