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ELRCAllowedNot stated in judgment· [2019] KEELRC 14 (KLR)

Patrick Ong’ol Opiyo v Young Women’s Christian Association Of Kenya (Ywca) & another [2019] KEELRC 14 (KLR)

Employment and Labour Relations Court
11 December 2019
HWHellen Wasilwa
793 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
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The bottom line

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Kenya's Employment Court corrected its own award, ruling that money a worker rejected was never 'paid' and boosting his payout to over Kshs 400,000.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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The Claimant, Patrick Ong'ol Opiyo, moved the Employment and Labour Relations Court by Notice of Motion filed 11th June 2019 seeking review of the judgment delivered on 14th May 2019 by Hellen Wasilwa J, in which the Court had awarded him Kshs. 401,999 less statutory deductions, but deducted Kshs. 181,747 said to have been already paid, leaving a balance of Kshs. 220,252. The Applicant averred that the sum of Kshs. 181,747 was merely an offer made by the Respondent on 25th June 2014 which he rejected, and that he never received it nor had statutory deductions been made. He relied on Rule 33 of the ELRC (Procedure) Rules 2016 and National Bank of Kenya v Ngungu Njau, contending there was an error apparent on the record. The Respondent, through its Secretary General Deborah Olwal Modi, maintained that it had in good faith offered Kshs. 250,970 as redundancy dues which the Applicant declined, and opposed review, relying on the KUCFAW v Gakuyu Farmers and Michael Opondo Were cases, arguing the Applicant was in substance seeking an appeal and that review does not permit re-examination of the merits. Examining the record, the Court noted the Claimant's evidence that he rejected the Respondent's payment offer, and found it had erred in treating that money as paid. Holding this to be an error on the record correctable through review, the Court reviewed its judgment and entered judgment for the full Kshs. 401,999 less statutory deductions, with costs in the cause.

Key legal issues

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01

Whether an error apparent on the record existed warranting review

Holding

The Court found it had erred in concluding the Claimant had been paid Kshs. 181,747 when the evidence showed he had rejected the offer of payment; this constituted an error on the record justifying review.

Reasoning

The Court examined the Claimant's evidence, in which he stated he rejected the Respondent's offer of payment of Kshs. 250,790. Because the prior judgment treated that sum as paid to the Claimant when it had been declined, the Court held there was an error apparent on the record, invoking Rule 33 of the ELRC (Procedure) Rules 2016 and the principles in National Bank of Kenya v Ngungu Njau, and corrected the award accordingly.

p. 2

Legal principles established

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  • Where a court makes a finding that a party was paid money which the record shows the party rejected, that is an error on the record correctable through review under Rule 33 of the ELRC (Procedure) Rules 2016.

Court orders

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  1. 1.Judgment delivered on 14th May 2019 is reviewed
  2. 2.Judgment entered for the whole amount awarded as Kshs. 401,999 less statutory deductions instead of Kshs. 220,252
  3. 3.Costs in the cause

Authorities

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Legislation

  • Employment and Labour Relations Court (Procedure) Rules, 2016Rule 33

Cases cited (3)

  • National Bank of Kenya v Ngungu Njau
    [1997] eKLR
  • Kenya Union of Commercial Food & Allied Workers (KUCFAW) v Gakuyu Farmers Co-operative Society Limited
    [2019] eKLR
  • Michael Opondo Were v Maths Trading Company Limited
    [2016] eKLR
Jurisdiction invoked
Rule 33 of the Employment and Labour Relations Court (Procedure) Rules, 2016

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Patrick Ong’ol Opiyo v Young Women’s Christian Association Of Kenya (Ywca) & another [2019] KEELRC 14 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2019). Not stated in judgment. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2019/14/eng@2019-12-11

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.