By Desire Emmanuel
A security officer who dragged the company that sacked him to the National Industrial Court over what he described as the unlawful termination of his employment has lost the case due to his inability to produce the conditions of service.
Justice Funke Anuwe of the Abuja Division of the court dismissed the case filed by the man, Mr Lawrence Ochi, against the company, Peoples Plus, on Monday, February 2, saying the termination of his employment was in order.
The judge held that Ochi failed to plead and prove the terms and conditions of his employment or how the termination of his appointment breached any contractual provision.
According to court documents, the man told the court that he was employed as a security officer by the Peoples Plus management in November 2007 and was later seconded to a bank.
He contended that he was neither queried nor allowed to defend himself in relation to the allegation that led to his employment termination and argued that his termination was therefore unlawful.
Ochi claimed he was not paid his salaries from August 2015, neither were his terminal benefits paid. He also alleged defamation arising from reports purportedly written by the company about him to his church and an organisation that later employed him.
In its defence however, Peoples Plus management maintained that the employment of Ochi was validly terminated, that his terminal benefits were duly computed and paid through a bank draft, and that it neither wrote nor issued any defamatory message to the church and his subsequent employer.
Delivering judgment, Justice Anuwe ruled that the Peoples Plus management lawfully exercised its right as an employer to terminate the employment of Ochi on the ground that his services were no longer required, and that the termination was not shown to be disciplinary in nature.
She further held that an employee who seeks to challenge the termination of his employment must place before the court the applicable conditions of service and show precisely how those conditions were breached, which Mr Ochi failed to do.
On the claim for unpaid salaries, the court held that a terminated employee is not entitled to salaries or allowances for periods after the termination of employment, having found that Ochi failed to establish any basis for setting aside the termination.
Justice Anuwe also held that Mr Ochi’s alternative claim for terminal benefits failed, as evidence showed that the Peoples Plus management issued him a bank draft for his terminal entitlements in December 2015, thereby discharging its obligation, and that the alleged seizure of the bank draft by a third party could not be attributed to the Peoples Plus management.
