• He claimed that some of his colleagues lodged complaints to the company about him, leading to a disciplinary process that was flawed.
• The court declined to award Ooga general damages for constructive dismissal as he had asked. This was Sh5,776,800 and a further USD 48,672.
Image: FILE
A former senior pilot at a local airline based at Wilson Airport has been awarded Sh2 million in terminal benefits by the Employment Court.
Joseph Ooga had sued DAC Aviation EA for wrongful dismissal, but the court dismissed the case saying he resigned and was not fired.
At the time he was leaving the company, he was a senior pilot and he claimed that he was frustrated by the employer, leading to his resignation.
He claimed that some of his colleagues lodged complaints to the company about him, leading to a disciplinary process that was flawed.
Justice James Rika ruled that even though the disciplinary process may have had procedural flaws, the court does not see how an ordinary disciplinary procedure, which ended in a warning, would amount to dismissal.
“If the respondent intended to get rid of the claimant, why then just slap him with a warning letter, not outright dismissal, at the end of the disciplinary process?,” the court ruled.
Judge Rika further held that if an employer has taken an employee through a disciplinary process and issued a warning, rather than a dismissal, the employee has no reason to resign and strain the law on constructive dismissal.
The court declined to award Ooga general damages for constructive dismissal as he had asked which was Sh5,776,800 and a further $48,672.
However, the court noted that DAC Aviation had offered to pay terminal benefits at Sh62,337 and $20,520 which they are now required to pay Ooga who resigned in February 2019.
The money will be paid with interest on the principal amount at 16 per cent per annum from March 1, 2019, until payment is made in full.
In his court papers, the pilot claims that the two colleagues made a complaint against him because he was meant to file a report on their competence.
He says one of them had on two separate occasions in Chad failed to follow the Flight Operations Manual, which required that the cargo door was closed before securing the cabin door, before take-off.
“This placed passengers and cabin crew at risk, he was also expected to report how the crew’s luggage had been left in Cameroon, while the flight landed in Chad. The crew had to make do without their personal effects in Chad,” the judgment reads
Ooga claimed that the complaint was encouraged by the director of operations, and was intended to tarnish his name, make the work environment intolerable leading to termination.