Kiprop v Mediheal Group of Hospitals (Cause E054 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 2736 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan court held that walking off a job without resigning defeats a constructive dismissal claim, even where the employer unlawfully withheld salary.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether withholding of salary amounts to constructive dismissal
Not automatically; the employee must resign in response to the breach. Merely walking out without resigning does not establish constructive dismissal.
The court adopted the Court of Appeal's two-pronged test (unreasonable conduct test and contractual/repudiatory breach test) in Coca Cola v Luganga. It acknowledged that non-payment of salary can constitute repudiatory breach, as in Mokaya and Nyabuti, but held that constructive dismissal presupposes a termination of employment by the employee on grounds of the employer's breach of a fundamental term. The Claimant neither resigned nor produced a resignation letter citing such breach, so the claim failed despite the salary arrears being proved.
Entitlement to salary arrears
Claimant entitled to December 2023 salary only (Kshs 144,350); pay slips proved October and November 2023 salaries were paid.
Although the Claimant pleaded three months' unpaid salary, he annexed pay slips for October and November 2023, showing those salaries were received. The court therefore awarded only one month's salary for December 2023, the last month he worked.
Legal principles established
#- Constructive dismissal requires a resignation by the employee in response to a repudiatory breach of a fundamental term of the employment contract by the employer, ordinarily evidenced by a resignation letter citing that breach.
- An employee who abandons employment without resigning is himself in breach and cannot claim compensation where both parties are in breach.
- An employee is statutorily entitled to a certificate of service under Section 51(1) of the Employment Act.
Court orders
#- 1.Judgment entered in favour of the Claimant against the Respondent for one month's salary arrears in the sum of Kshs 144,350 (salary for December 2023).
- 2.The Respondent shall issue a certificate of service to the Claimant.
- 3.The Respondent shall bear the Claimant's costs of this suit.
- 4.Interest shall accrue at court rates from the date of judgment.
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Employment and Labour Relations Court jurisdiction over employment disputes (suit for unfair/constructive dismissal and terminal benefits)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kiprop v Mediheal Group of Hospitals (Cause E054 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 2736 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated in the judgment as provided (ELRC cause, claim dated 16th July 2024). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/2736/eng@2025-10-03
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.