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The Presiding Judge, Calabar Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Sanusi Kado has declared the Governor of Cross River State, Cross River State Waste Management Board and 7 Others conduct in not issuing letters of employment to Joseph Fernandez and 5 others, suing for themselves and on behalf of the abandoned and wrongfully terminated workers of Cross River State Waste Management Agency and not paying them their salaries as and when due as clear infraction of the Labour Act.
Justice Kado ordered the Governor Of Cross River State, Cross River State Waste Management Board and 7 Others to pay Joseph Fernandez and 5 others the sum of N30,000,000.00 (Thirty Million Naira) damages for unfair labour practices in denying them letters of employment, and the refusal to pay Joseph Fernandez and 5 others unpaid salaries despite several demands and lack of reasonable notice in termination of their employment orally within 30 days.
From facts, the claimants- Joseph Fernandez and 5 others, suing for themselves and on behalf of the abandoned and wrongfully terminated workers of Cross River State Waste Management Agency had submitted that they were workers employed at various times between 2010 and 2014, by the Cross Rive State Waste Management Agency as they were interviewed before their engagements and were not issued with letters of appoints despite promise by the agency.
They averred that on or about December 2015, the Board and Management Team of the Cross River State Waste Management Agency were dissolved, and the management neglected them and employed new staff who started doing their job while they kept going to work, continued working diligently and faithfully without pay.
They continued that on or about June 2016, the General Manager of Cross River State Waste Management Agency ordered them to stop coming to work, and when the difficulty of working without pay became unbearable, they staged a peaceful protest at the Governor’s office to press for their demands for payment of salaries, but to no avail.
In defence, the defendants- Governor of Cross River State, Cross River State Waste Management Board and 7 Others posited that Joseph Fernandez and 5 others were engaged as casual workers to perform ad hoc jobs and were not issued letters of employment and were paid only for the actual time they worked.
They were being paid as when due until 2014, when due to incorrect compilation of their names/attendance at duty (by the Monitoring Team among them), payments got delayed. Further, the new Board and Management decided on a new set of its own staff, and they were asked to stop work in December 2015.
The Counsel to the Governor of Cross River State, Cross River State Waste Management Board and 7 Others argued that the employment of Joseph Fernandez and 5 others on record and the 200 others (who they seek to represent) was not of Statutory flavor but employment held at the will/pleasure of the employer.
In concluding his submission, the Learned Deputy Director submitted that Joseph Fernandez and 5 others have failed woefully to establish by credible and convincing evidence the claims they seek against the Defendants and that thus they are not entitled to any declarations or orders thereof. Counsel urged the court to dismiss this action as being unmeritorious, time-wasting and a hoax.
In opposition, Joseph Fernandez and others’ counsel, Baba Isa Esq submitted that the argument of the Governor of Cross River State, Cross River State Waste Management Board and 7 others describing his clients as casual workers cannot stand. Counsel argued that having worked beyond three months, none of the abandoned and wrongfully terminated workers of Cross River State Waste Management Agency can be described as casual workers, and urged the Court to grant the reliefs sought.
Delivering judgment, the Presiding Judge, Justice Sanusi Kado held that the failure by the Cross Rive State Waste Management Agency to issue letters of employment to the Joseph Fernandez and others when they were engaged was against the clear provisions of the Labour Act, that mandates the Waste Management Agency to upon engagement of employees to within three months of that engagement issue the claimants letters of employment stating the terms and conditions of the engagement.
Justice Kado posited that the reason given by the defendants for the non-compliance with the Labour Act, that Joseph Fernandez and others were engaged as casual workers, was in clear conflict with the law and not tenable in law.
On the claimants’ demand for the issuance of letters of employment, the Court held that Joseph Fernandez and 5 others, suing for themselves and on behalf of the abandoned and wrongfully terminated workers of Cross River State Waste Management Agency were orally employed by the Cross Rive State Waste Management Agency and the said employment was equally terminated orally by the agency the employer of the claimants, as the termination was carried out when the claimants were orally asked to stop work and they were orally told they have been sacked this was in June, 2016.
The Court ruled that the claimants have woefully failed to provide documentary evidence to prove entitlement to grant of unpaid salaries due to a lack of proof of the quantum of what the salary being claimed.
Justice Kado stated that the Governor of Cross River State, Cross River State Waste Management Board and 7 others cannot be allowed to hide under the canopy of self-created confusion or alleged failure to submit log book, to continue to deprived the claimants of their hard-earned salaries, that it is the duty of defendants to keep and maintain record of payment of salaries to their employees.
The Court reasoned that the defendants cannot be allowed to benefit from their own wrong, as the claimants have averred that the conduct of the defendants in denying them letters of employment and salaries as and when due, they have been traumatised.
“I also award cost in the sum of N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira), against the defendants in favour of the claimants.
“The monetary aspects of this judgment shall be settled within 30 days from the date of this judgment, failing which interest of 10% per annum shall apply.” The Court ruled
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