Walter Omondi Ochieng began his role as a flight engineer with budget airline Jambojet on June 22, 2017. His selection followed a competitive process, leading him to resign from his position at Airline Leasing Services (ALS) Limited on June 23, 2017. He completed a notice period until July 15 of the same year before commencing his new job at Jambojet’s offices on Airport North Road in Embakasi, Nairobi.
However, an unexpected turn of events unfolded as Mr. Ochieng’s appointment failed to materialize despite his presence at his new employer’s office on July 19 for deployment. Instead, the Human Resources (HR) manager at Jambojet kept him waiting at the reception and eventually informed him that he would be contacted. Left disappointed but hopeful, Mr. Ochieng returned home. However, Jambojet did not communicate with him in the subsequent days, prompting him to write to the airline and eventually take legal action that exposed the airline’s irregular employment practices.
Justice Linnet Ndolo of the Employment and Labour Relations Court concluded that the rescission of Mr. Ochieng’s employment by Jambojet violated the principles of fair procedure, resulting in an unfair termination as per Section 45 of the Employment Act. As a result, Mr. Ochieng received a symbolic payment totaling Sh2.11 million, encompassing three months’ salary compensation and two months’ salary as notice.
Mr. Ochieng’s appointment letter from Jambojet outlined his starting basic pay of Sh300,000 per month and an engineering allowance of Sh123,000 per month. Despite the terms of this appointment letter, Mr. Ochieng was never assigned any work and claimed that he was constructively dismissed. He accused Jambojet of frustrating him by not providing him with tasks despite his selection through a competitive process.
After writing two demand letters to Jambojet, the airline responded on January 10 and January 26, 2018, stating that he was not deployed due to “failure to successfully complete the security clearance process.”
Jambojet contested the reasons for Mr. Ochieng’s resignation from his previous employment, casting doubt on the authenticity of his resignation letter to ALS Limited. The airline also accused Mr. Ochieng of withholding crucial information about his employment history with Kenya Airways PLC.
Justice Ndolo criticized Jambojet’s irregular actions and failure to adhere to best practices in employment processing. She emphasized that a letter of appointment should only be issued after a comprehensive background check is completed. The judge concluded that Jambojet’s circumvention of established best practices and its failure to follow fair procedure amounted to unfair termination under the Employment Act.
Justice Ndolo noted that Jambojet failed to provide evidence that Mr. Ochieng withheld information about his employment with Kenya Airways or the termination of that employment. She considered the allegation of “failure to successfully complete the security clearance process” as unsubstantiated and unverified.
The judge also pointed out that even if Jambojet had legitimate concerns about Mr. Ochieng’s relationship with Kenya Airways, these concerns should have been formally communicated to him for a response. She emphasized that the employment contract had been established between the parties and could not be terminated arbitrarily by one party.
Justice Ndolo awarded Mr. Ochieng a compensation of three months’ salary for the lost opportunity due to Jambojet’s actions, considering the unlawful conduct of the airline while acknowledging that Mr. Ochieng had found alternative employment within a reasonable timeframe.
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