• Muikamba had sought to be paid Sh5,662,738.68 in compensation for what she termed as 'constructive dismissal' in 2020.
• The court, however, awarded her only Sh6,000 for voice-over services she rendered during the tenancy of her contract and dismissed her claim of unfair dismissal.
Image: FILE
Former Classic 105 presenter Terry Muikamba has lost Sh5.6 million lawsuit she had filed against Radio Africa group for unfair dismissal.
Muikamba had sought to be paid Sh5,662,738.68 in compensation for what she termed as 'constructive dismissal' in 2020.
The court, however, awarded her only Sh6,000 for voice-over services she rendered during the tenancy of her contract and dismissed her claim of unfair dismissal.
The ruling was delivered by the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi on May 30, 2023.
In her suit filed in 2021, Muikamba alleged that she was forced to resign from her job at the media firm owing to a toxic work environment occasioned by the company's programmes controller Peter Sinclair.
She told the court she endured severe, harsh, abusive treatment and harassment from Sinclair, something she said forced her to resign from Radio Africa Group.
This, she argued, amounted to constructive dismissal, a scenario where an employer creates an unconducive environment that leaves an employee with resignation as the only option.
But in his ruling delivered on June 6, Justice Nzioka wa Makau dismissed the claims saying Muikamba had in fact been offered an enhanced package but she turned it down for greener pastures elsewhere.
As such, the judge ruled, sufficient grounds had not been established to warrant the issuance of orders by the court for her to recover damages from Radio Africa Group.
He said Muikamba had voluntarily left the company and claimed that her exit was occasioned by bullying lacked basis.
In its defence, Radio Africa Group said Muikamba never raised complaints about the alleged harassment or toxicity of the work environment until her resignation.
Further, the company through Group Human Resource Manager Jemima Ngode said Muikamba had undergone performance appraisals between 2018 and 2020 but at no point did she raise the issue of harassment.
The court also heard that she renewed her contract in 2019 and never raised any issue concerning the work environment.
Prior to her quitting her job in December 2020, Radio Africa had on September 30, 2020, held a meeting with the Drive Show team, including the CEO, Patrick Quarcoo, where the issues Muikamba raised in her suit were discussed.
The court was told remedial steps agreed upon to address the concerns Muikamba raised during her resignation after members of the Drive team raised issues against Sinclair's conduct.
On November 12, 2020, Muikamba informed the company that she was satisfied with the remedial steps, the court was told.