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ELRCDismissedCause No. 1092 of 2014· [2019] KEELRC 2056 (KLR)

Lucia Nduku Nzioka v Mt. Laverna Girls Secondary School [2019] KEELRC 2056 (KLR)

Industrial Court of Kenya at Nairobi
22 February 2019
DMD. K. Njagi Marete
1,639 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
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The bottom line

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A Kenyan court dismissed a teacher's unfair dismissal claim because she couldn't prove she was actually fired — evidence is everything.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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The claimant, formerly employed as a matron by the respondent school at a consolidated monthly salary of Kshs.14,000 under a contract renewed on 1st April 2011, alleged that in January 2012 she was verbally dismissed without justification and replaced, and claimed Kshs.1,023,818.37 comprising arrears for weekend hours, public holidays, extra hours, leave, holiday tuition, compensation for loss of future earnings, service pay, salary in lieu of notice and salary for 18 days worked in January 2012, together with a declaration that the termination was unlawful and costs. The respondent denied terminating her, contending that on 18th January 2012 the claimant herself requested all her dues after being implicated in the theft of rice and sugar following investigations by the headmistress, Sr. Mary Njane, which amounted to a unilateral termination by her own conduct. The court framed four issues. The claimant filed no written submissions. Relying on section 47(5) of the Employment Act, 2007, the court held that the claimant failed to discharge her burden of proving termination or unfair termination, agreeing with the respondent that the claimant's request for dues amounted to a self-imposed termination. The court found no termination of employment by the respondent, rendering the remaining issues moot, and dismissed the claim with each party bearing their own costs.

Key legal issues

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01

Whether there was termination of the claimant's employment by the respondent

Holding

No termination by the respondent was established; the claimant failed to discharge her burden of proof under section 47(5) of the Employment Act, 2007.

Reasoning

The claimant alleged verbal dismissal and replacement, but the documents she adduced did not establish a case of termination. The respondent contended the claimant herself requested all her dues, amounting to unilateral termination after her implication in theft of rice and sugar. The court agreed with the respondent and found the claimant failed to proffer a case of termination or unlawful termination.

p. 3
02

Whether the termination was wrongful, unfair and unlawful

Holding

Not determined; this issue fell away with the finding of no termination.

Reasoning

Having found no termination of employment by the respondent, the court held the remaining issues dissipated and were not worthy of consideration or determination.

p. 3

Legal principles established

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  • The burden of proving unfair termination or wrongful dismissal rests on the employee, while the burden of justifying the grounds for termination rests on the employer.

Court orders

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  1. 1.The claim is dismissed
  2. 2.Each party bears their own costs of the cause

Authorities

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Legislation

  • Employment Act, 2007section 47(5)
  • Employment Act, 2007sections 41(2), 43, 3(6), 45, 35(5)

Cases cited (1)

  • Jane Mukui Mwini vs. Africa Apparels EPZ Limited
    [2018] eKLR
Jurisdiction invoked
Jurisdiction of the Industrial Court over employment and labour relations disputes (Employment Act, 2007 claims)

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Later judgments citing this (2)

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Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.

Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Lucia Nduku Nzioka v Mt. Laverna Girls Secondary School [2019] KEELRC 2056 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2019). Cause No. 1092 of 2014. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2019/2056/eng@2019-02-22

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