Brookside Dairies Ltd has been ordered to pay a plumber Sh1.5 million for using his photograph on their calendars without his consent.
David Gicheru sued Brookside alongside Gicheha Farms Ltd where he was working when the said picture was taken.
The plumber had told the court that he started working at Gicheha as a security guard but later moved to plumbing where he was earning Sh10,000.
He had accused both Brookside and Gicheha Farms of photographing him in 2017 without his permission and Brookside published his image on their 2018 calendars that were used in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
In her judgement delivered last week, Justice Hellen Wasilwa ruled that the privacy of Gicheru was indefinitely infringed upon by the two companies.
"There is no indication that he was paid for the use of his photo on the calendar," Judge Wasilwa further said that the act by the companies was subjecting him to exploitation for private gain which is like slavery.
The court also awarded him for being unfairly dismissed from his work as a plumber at Gicheha Farms after he refused to withdraw the suit against Brookside over his photo.
According to the judge, there was no proper valid reason that led to his termination.
"The termination was not for any reason related to poor performance or anything related to his conduct," the judge ruled.
Brookside had argued that Gicheru had agreed to be photographed but the court ruled that there was no evidence that he had indeed agreed to be photographed.
It was also the court's view that the agreement relied upon by the company is dated May 2018 when the calenders were already out from January.
For the unfair dismissal, Gicheru was awarded Sh150,800 and for using his picture without his consent he got Sh1.5 Million.
Gicheru will be paid a total of Sh 1.65 Million.
