By Desire Emmanuel
The National Industrial Court has ordered the management of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, Ogun State, to reinstate a nursing officer whose employment was terminated for ‘engaging in activism and granting interview.’
The court also ordered the university to pay her salary and entitlements from 2020 till the date of her reinstatement.
Justice Ikechi Nweneka of the Lagos Division of the court, who gave the ruling, declared the termination of the employment of the nursing officer, Mrs Aishat Ajibola as wrongful.
The judge also granted an order setting aside the letter of termination issued in November 2020 to Mrs Ajibola and directed the management of the teaching hospital to reinstate Mrs Ajibola to her employment without loss of rank.
According to court documents, Mrs Ajibola, a Principal Nursing Officer in the employment of the hospital, submitted that she participated in an online interview in her personal capacity as a nurse, where she discussed her activism and issues concerning one of the staff at the hospital who was a victim of the issue nurses were faced with.
However, after the interview, in November 2020, she received a query from the Director of Administration regarding her participation and comments on the Nurses Association. She said she denied that her actions constituted misconduct warranting disciplinary action.
Mrs Ajibola added that after this, she appeared before an investigative panel and the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee, and that her employment was terminated without obtaining the approval of the board as required by law.
She further alleged that she was denied access to the hospital premises after the termination of her employment and that her one-month salary in lieu of notice was not paid as stipulated.
In its defence, the university contended that Mrs Ajibola engaged in misconduct by granting an unauthorised interview contrary to the Public Service Rules.
The hospital also maintained that Mrs Ajibola was given a fair hearing, issued a query, appeared before disciplinary panels and that due process was followed in terminating her employment.
The hospital insisted that Mrs Ajibola was not harassed, victimised, or discriminated against, and urged the court to dismiss the case with costs.
In opposition, Mrs Ajibola’s counsel argued that the hospital violated the employee handbook by terminating his client’s employment, as the duty to do so lay with the board, which was not in place when her appointment was terminated.
The counsel urged the court to hold that due process was not observed, rendering the termination illegal, null, and void.
Delivering judgment, Justice Nweneka held that the employment of Mrs Ajibola is statutorily regulated and that the Conditions of Service vest disciplinary powers in the board of the teaching hospital.
Justice Nweneka held that there was no evidence before the court that the board’s approval was obtained before Mrs Ajibola’s employment was terminated, as both parties agreed that there was no board in place at the time her employment was terminated on November 25, 2020, and that the board was inaugurated on December 7, 2020.
The judge further stated that notwithstanding that the board of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital granted Mrs Ajibola a fair hearing in the proceedings leading up to the termination of her employment, the hospital failed to obtain the board approval or the approval of the relevant supervising commissioner for the termination of Mrs Ajibola’s employment, and declared the termination as wrongful.
Though Justice Nweneka ordered the hospital to pay Mrs Ajibola all her salaries from December 2020, he refused her claims for damages, cost of action, pension remittances and other monetary reliefs for lack of pleadings and proof.
