A watchman who went to court seeking Ksh714,000 after wrongful dismissal in 2015 has won Ksh1,000 as compensation.
Daniel Mwanzau, who worked as a guard from 2001 in a security firm, filed a case with a labor court after he was dismissed for showing up to work drunk.
Apart from Ksh114,000 damages, Mwanzau wanted the firm to award him Ksh494,000 as compensation for unpaid overtime during the 13 years he worked for the firm.
Additionally, he wanted to be paid Ksh14,500, which he claimed was salary he had not been paid and Ksh2,500 as uniform refund.
Mwanzau told the court that he did not show up to work drunk as claimed by the company and stated that no test had been carried out to ascertain the claim.
However, on being cross-examined, Mwanzau admitted that he had written an apology letter to the firm, indicating that he would not repeat the offense.
Further, he admitted that the firm had issued him with warning letters due to misconduct.
The security firm’s Human Resource Manager stated that Mwanzau absconded work on a number of times as well as showed up to work while drunk.
He stated that the petitioner did not deserve any compensation bearing in mind that his dismissal was justified.
In his ruling, justice Onesmus Makau stated that Mwanzau was given an opportunity to explain himself to the employer.
He ruled that the petitioner ought to be refunded for his uniform which cost Ksh2,400.
Mwanzau had also not cleared with the company and that cost him Ksh1,380, leaving him with only Ksh1,020.
Source: Kenyans