The National Industrial Court in Port Harcourt has issued a judgment ordering Guinness Nigeria Plc and three other parties to pay an aggrieved former employee, Bright Nwosu, the sum of N52,456,000 million for wrongful termination of his employment.
Bright Nwosu, who had been employed by Guinness Nigeria Plc as a Sales Executive in 2004, filed a lawsuit against the company after he was wrongfully dismissed in 2019.
Justice Nelson Ogbuanya, who presided over the case, ruled that Guinness Nigeria Plc was at fault for terminating Nwosu’s employment without valid justification. The court found that the evidence presented showed that Nwosu had been diligent in his duties before his dismissal.
The court also deemed unacceptable the stipulation in Guinness’s employee handbook that employees could be terminated without providing a clear reason for the termination.
In the judgment, Justice Ogbuanya ordered Guinness to pay Nwosu N19 million, as well as N886,000 for his terminal benefit and gratuity, given that he had worked for 15 years prior to his dismissal. Additionally, the court directed Guinness to pay Nwosu his two months of unpaid salaries in lieu of notice, totaling N570,000.
Furthermore, the court ordered Guinness to pay Nwosu N30 million in damages for the unfair labor practices he endured and an additional N2 million as litigation costs. The judgment specified that all awarded sums must be paid within two months from the date of the judgment’s delivery, with any delay in payment incurring a 10 percent interest per annum.
Azunku stated, “The judgment is a very good one, it serves as a deterrent to every other employer.
“In the classification of employment under our labour law, this falls under master-servant relationship, even though that master has the prerogative to terminate a contract of employment at any point in time, records must be heard to the provision of the contract of employment if there should be any regulation at all, then the provision must be followed to the letter.”
