Hon. Justice Zaynab Mohammed Bashir of the Port Harcourt Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court has declared Mr Joseph’s employment termination from First Bank of Nigeria as wrongful.
The Court ordered First Bank of Nigeria to pay Mr Joseph the sum of N3.2m, being the balance of his salaries and allowances withheld during his suspension, and further awarded N2m as general damages for the breach of the terms of his employment.
From the facts, the claimant, Mr Joseph, had submitted that he was employed by First Bank of Nigeria in May 2005 and rose to the position of Deputy Manager before his employment was terminated in December 2018 following allegations of misconduct.
Mr Joseph contended that the allegation was never substantiated. Yet, he was suspended, paid only about N31k monthly instead of half of the basic salary prescribed by the Bank’s Staff Employee Handbook, and eventually had his employment terminated. In contrast, the investigation into the allegation was still ongoing.
Mr Joseph Akor further maintained that First Bank of Nigeria breached the provisions of its Staff Employee Handbook by failing to conclude investigations before terminating his employment and by withholding part of his salaries, allowances and other benefits during his suspension despite the allegation not being established.
In defence, First Bank of Nigeria argued that Mr Joseph was accorded a fair hearing through disciplinary proceedings, that his employment was lawfully terminated because his services were no longer required, and that he was not entitled to the unpaid balance of his suspended salary, having left the bank’s employment while still on suspension.
The Bank further argued that the reason stated in the termination letter that the services of Mr Joseph were no longer required was sufficient in law and that the Court could not import any other reason into the letter.
In opposition, Mr Joseph’s counsel, O. G. Tony Ogidi Esq., submitted that First Bank of Nigeria failed to comply with its own disciplinary procedure under the Staff Employee Handbook, terminated the employment of his client before the conclusion of investigations, and failed to justify the termination in accordance with the provisions of the Handbook.
Counsel further argued that the termination letter merely stated that the services of Mr Joseph were no longer required without assigning any reason and maintained that the Bank acted contrary to the provisions of its Staff Employee Handbook by paying Mr Joseph substantially less than half of his basic salary during his suspension.
In a well-considered judgment, Hon. Justice Zaynab Bashir held that Mr Joseph successfully established that First Bank of Nigeria breached the terms of his employment by failing to comply with the disciplinary procedure contained in its Staff Employee Handbook after commencing investigations into allegations of misconduct and by paying him less than the prescribed half of his basic salary during suspension.
The Court found that although the Bank retained the contractual right to terminate the employment, the termination was wrongful for failing to comply with its own contractual obligations and disciplinary framework.
Justice Zaynab further held that, having elected to terminate Mr Joseph’s employment on the ground that his services were no longer required rather than dismissing him for misconduct, First Bank of Nigeria could not rely on alleged misconduct to deny Mr Joseph the financial entitlements accruing during his suspension.
The post Court Declares First Bank’s Termination Of Ex-Manager Wrongful” — Orders Payment Of ₦3.2m Salary Balance, ₦2m Damages For Breach Of Handbook appeared first on TheNigeriaLawyer.