Kariathi v Alfa Motors Limited (Employment and Labour Relations Appeal E005 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 1374 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court awarded a dismissed driver 12 months' pay because his employer fired him the same day without notice or a hearing.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the dismissal was substantively and procedurally fair
Termination was unlawful and unfair - no valid reason and no procedural fairness under sections 41, 43 and 45
The court re-evaluated the evidence on first appeal. The claimant, a 17-year employee, was dismissed on 4th December 2020 the same day he used the director's car to retrieve an item the boss had forgotten, while running the boss's admitted personal errands. No notice to show cause was issued, no hearing before a colleague, and the 8th April 2020 three-month warning had long lapsed. An employer cannot fault an employee for obeying the boss's directions; the reasonable-employer test was failed.
Whether the trial magistrate erred in dismissing the claim
Yes - the subordinate court's decision was clearly wrong and was set aside
Applying Mbogo v Shah, the court found the trial court misdirected itself by failing to take account of the claimant's statement and the director's admission that the claimant ran the boss's personal errands. Having found unfair termination, the court exercised its discretion under sections 49 and 50 of the Employment Act to award notice pay and maximum 12 months' compensation.
Entitlement to reliefs
Notice pay and maximum compensation awarded; gratuity, leave, underpayments, transport allowance and service pay refused
Applying section 49(4) factors - 17 years of service, minimal NSSF-only social security, age and limited employment prospects, single warning letter - the court awarded maximum compensation of 12 months' gross salary plus one month's notice pay. Other heads were not proved on a balance of probability and the trial court's findings on them were not disturbed.
Legal principles established
#- A first appellate court must reconsider and evaluate the evidence and draw its own conclusions while making allowance for not having seen or heard the witnesses
- Termination must satisfy both substantive and procedural fairness under sections 45(2) and 41 of the Employment Act
- Burden of justifying grounds for termination rests on the employer
- Obeying a boss's lawful instructions to run personal errands cannot found a valid reason for dismissal; dismissal on the same day without show cause and hearing is unfair
Court orders
#- 1.Appeal allowed; judgment of the Honourable B.C Mulemia (CM) delivered 8th December 2023 in Nairobi CMELRC No. E591 of 2021 set aside
- 2.Judgment entered for the claimant against the respondent: a declaration that the summary dismissal was unfair and unlawful
- 3.Notice pay of one month's salary Kshs 32,740
- 4.Compensation for unfair termination equivalent of 12 months' salary, total Kshs 392,880 (total award Kshs 425,620)
- 5.Interest at court rates from date of judgment until payment in full
- 6.Costs of the suit to the claimant
- 7.Costs of the appeal to be borne by the respondent
- 8.Stay granted for 30 days
- On appeal from
- Chief Magistrate's Court at Nairobi (CMELRC)
- Nairobi CMELRC No. E591 of 2021
- Jurisdiction invoked
- First appellate jurisdiction over the magistrates' court (Employment and Labour Relations Court Act), appeal by Memorandum of Appeal dated 21st December, 2023
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kariathi v Alfa Motors Limited (Employment and Labour Relations Appeal E005 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 1374 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Nairobi CMELRC No. E591 of 2021 (Appeal). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/1374/eng@2025-05-09
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.