The National Industrial Court on Wednesday waded into a dispute between an employee of a company who said he resigned his appointment and the organisation that stated that he was dismissed from service.
Justice Ibrahim Galadima of the Jos Division of the court declared the dismissal of Mr. John Igwe by Chan Medi Pharm wrongful, null and void, ruling that the company issued the dismissal letter after Igwe’s employment had already ended.
Justice Galadima held that Igwe’s resignation took effect when his one-month notice expired in April 2021, thereby bringing his employment relationship with the pharmaceutical company to a lawful end.
Consequently, the court ordered Chan Medi Pharm to pay Igwe N406,000 as gratuity, N712,000 in cooperative deductions and N500,000 as general damages. It also directed the company to remit N316,000 into his pension account and N8,000 to the relevant tax authority.
According to available court documents, Igwe disclosed that he submitted his resignation letter in 2021 and gave the required one month’s notice, which ended in April 2021. He stated that by the expiration of the notice period, he was no longer in the employment of Chan Medi Pharm.
He further stated that the company issued a memo refusing to accept his resignation on the ground that he had not provided his personal account for investigation.
He also contended that Chan Medi Pharm subsequently disregarded his resignation and issued him with a dismissal letter.
Mr Igwe averred that the company’s refusal to pay his outstanding entitlements caused him financial hardship and emotional distress, prompting him to institute the action seeking, among other reliefs, the setting aside of his dismissal, payment of his outstanding entitlements, general damages, interest and costs.
In its defence, the company contended that Mr Igwe was a person of interest in an ongoing audit and investigation into alleged irregularities in the company’s management and financial affairs.
Chan Medi Pharm also maintained that its refusal to accept Igwe’s resignation was justified because he was under investigation and that his resignation was viewed as an attempt to evade scrutiny.
The company further posited that Igwe remained its employee until his eventual dismissal because he was aware that his resignation had been rejected before the expiration of his notice period.
Chan Medi Pharm urged the court to dismiss his suit in its entirety, contending that its actions were justified by his alleged failure to cooperate with the audit and investigative processes and his alleged abscondment from duty.
Delivering judgment, Justice Galadima held that resignation is a voluntary relinquishment of employment and that unless the contract of employment provides otherwise, it takes effect once the employee complies with the notice requirement and does not require the employer’s acceptance to become operative.
The judge stated that there was no clause in the appointment or subsequent letters placed before it which made Igwe’s resignation conditional upon Chan Medi Pharm’s acceptance or the conclusion of investigations.
Justice Galadima further held that the investigation into the alleged financial irregularities did not extinguish Mr Igwe’s valid notice of resignation, as Chan Medi Pharm failed to show any legal basis for suspending the effect of the resignation.
The judge added that once Igwe’s employment with Chan Medi Pharm ended in April 2021, there was no employment relationship left upon which the company could subsequently act by issuing the dismissal letter dated in June 2021.
The judge concluded that the issuance of a dismissal letter after the employment had already ended was a serious and injurious act capable of stigmatising Mr. Igwe and affecting his reputation and post-employment standing.
