BY NT CORRESPONDENT.
The national broadcaster has been ordered to pay its former employee over Sh2 million for wrongful termination.
Judge Mathews Nduma Nderi found that the firing of now lawyer Vincent Suyianka Lempaa who by then was a journalist with KBC was unlawful, discriminatory and unfair.
KBC should also pay the lawyer the accrued sum with interest at court rates from the date of filing the suit.
Mr Lempaa was employed by KBC in October 2005 and was promoted to the position of Broadcast Assistant in November 2010, where he worked until July 6, 2012 when his services were abruptly terminated.
The court ruled in his favour saying that he was entitled to payment of all the money he was improperly denied from the date of his promotion.
Judge Nderi said the former broadcast assistant was wrongfully and unlawfully deprived of his employment.
“The claimant was not paid terminal benefits upon termination. The claimant suffered loss and damage at the hands of a public employer who chose to violate the law to his detriment,” Justice Nderi said.
He ordered the Kenya Broadcasting Cooperation to pay him Sh2,052,764 with interest from the date he filed the case.
In the termination letter, Lempaa was accused of gross misconduct and disclosure of confidential information.
But he said his former employer never summoned him to defend himself, contrary to the Employment Act and that the action was biased and motivated by malice, and aimed at victimizing him.
He also said although he was promoted, his salary was not adjusted to reflect the promotion for about 20 months.
KBC on the other hand accused him of being rude to senior staff an allegation he refutes.
Mr Lempaa says he was victimized for voicing dissent to the Permanent Secretary for Information for failure to be awarded a salary increment upon promotion.
He also wrote a collective memo on behalf of all affected colleagues (all signed the memo) as an advocate after the management failed to address their grievances.
They then proceeded on strike on February 29, 2012 and petitioned Parliament to investigate their complaints.
The case was filed on January 25 2013.
