Greystone Farm (formerly) Equitorial Nut Limited v Kenya Plantation & Agricultural Workers Union
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal threw out awards to ten farm workers because only one testified and no one proved their employment or pay.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Limitation under section 90 of the Employment Act
The claim was not time barred; filed two years and eight months after the alleged termination of 23rd April 2012, within the three-year period.
Section 90 of the Employment Act limits claims arising from contracts of service to three years. Although the pleadings were contradictory on the last year of service, the court took the date of termination stated by the sole testifying grievant, 23rd April 2012, and found the claim filed within three years.
Proof of employment on a balance of probability
Employment of the grievants, save possibly Damaris Njeri Wambui, was not proved; the trial court erred in finding for them.
Only one of ten grievants testified and gave no particulars of the others' terms of service. The employer's records had been destroyed by a grievant and the manager, so the burden of proving their contents could not be shifted to the employer under section 10(7). The claims were expressly denied and unsupported by records.
Nature and proof of damages in contract of service claims
Compensation pegged on salary is special damages requiring specific pleading and strict proof; none was proved.
Any compensation pegged on wages depends on the quantum being specifically proved. Citing Hahn v Singh, the court held special damages must be specifically claimed and strictly proved as they are not the natural consequence of the act complained of and may not be inferred.
Duty of a first appellate court
A first appeal is by way of retrial; the Court must re-analyse and re-assess the evidence and reach its own conclusions.
Relying on Selle v Associated Motor Boat Co. as adopted in Arthi Highway Developers, the court restated that it must reconsider and evaluate the evidence itself, while making due allowance for not having seen or heard the witnesses.
Legal principles established
#- Claims founded on a contract of service are claims for special damages which must be specifically pleaded and specifically proved; general damages are not awardable in such claims.
- Where an employer's employment records were destroyed by the very employees for whose benefit they were kept, the burden of proving the contents of such records cannot fairly be shifted to the employer under section 10(7) of the Employment Act.
- In a claim brought by a union on behalf of multiple grievants, one witness cannot testify in proof of the others' individual claims.
Court orders
#- 1.The appeal succeeds and is allowed
- 2.The judgment and decree of the Employment & Labour Relations Court of Kenya at Nyeri (B. Ongaya, J) dated 4th November 2016 is set aside
- 3.Each party to bear their own costs
- On appeal from
- Employment & Labour Relations Court of Kenya at Nyeri
- Nyeri Employment & Labour Relations Cause No. 45 of 2015
- Jurisdiction invoked
- First appeal to the Court of Appeal under the Employment Act framework (trial court decision of the ELRC); no specific constitutional provision cited
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Greystone Farm (formerly) Equitorial Nut Limited v Kenya Plantation & Agricultural Workers Union", Case Analysis (2022). Civil Appeal 13 of 2017. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2022/731/eng@2022-04-28
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.