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Lagos---His Lordship, Hon. Justice B. B. Kanyip of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja Judicial Division on Monday 4th June 2018 in a Judgment delivered ordered TFG Real Estate Limited to pay claimant Dorothy Adaeze Awogu the sum of Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000.00) only being one month’s salary in lieu of notice for breach of the contract of employment and sum of Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N2,500,000.00) only being damages for physical harassment, discrimination at work based on circumstance of her birth and false imprisonment within 30 days of this judgment.
The claimant filed this suit on 21st May 2013 vide a complaint accompanied by other originating processes. By the statement of facts, the claimant is paying for the following reliefs among others: A declaration that the termination of the claimant’s appointment on ground of her genotype as a Sickle Cell Anemia (SS) patient is discriminatory, illegal, null and void. An order directing the defendant to pay the claimant N10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira) as damages for physical harassment, discrimination at work based on circumstance of her birth and false imprisonment.
It is the case of the claimant that she was offered employment sometime in August 2012 by the defendant as a property consultant that on assumption of duty, she was placed under Gavin Smyth who supervised her activities for the defendant. That Gavin Smyth informed her that the reason she was employed was that she was good-looking; for which she was instructed to flirt with all manners of men in order to convert them to clients of the defendant, which instruction she declined to carry out.
That as a result, she suffered constant threats of dismissal on grounds of her medical condition by her superior, relying on transcripts of text messages involving chats between her and her superior. That due to her genotype (being a sickle cell patient), she often has cause to visit the hospital. That sometime around the first week of March 2013, she fell ill at her workplace and was taken to the hospital for treatment where she was admitted for few days but was discharged on 8th March 2013 with instructions by the doctor to rest for two days to enable her recover fully.
That while on her sick bed she received text messages from her superior who threatened to have her dismissed from insisting that being an SS patient, she was always sick, relying once again on the transcript of the text messages. That on 11th March 2013, while yet to fully recuperate, her superior, Gavin Smyth, at close of work, instructed her to proceed to a room for an exit interview. That she asked to know what the interview was for since her employment had not been determined but she was forcefully dragged to the interview room and locked up. That she was held for hours before the interview was conducted without her knowledge and consent. Thereafter, that she was informed by her superior that she has been relieved of her appointment in accordance with the threats he had always issued.
To the defendant, the claimant has a proclivity for wearing revealing and improper dresses as well as flirting with prospective clients, and the defendant’s Lagos office Manager, Mt Gavin Smyth, on two occasions ordered the claimant to go back home on account of improper and inappropriate dressing. Also that the claimant was on one occasion seen reading a book titled “The Art of Seduction”, which she claimed she was reading in order to et tips on body eye contact, which she intends to use on clients. That the claimant’s performance during her employment was neither satisfactory nor outstanding. That given her nonchalant attitude to work and absenteeism, her performance was unsatisfactory and she was not meeting her sales targets, for which she was warned. That she did not heed the warnings, for which her employment was ultimately terminated due to poor performance at, and absenteeism from, that the claimant was not at any time discriminated against at work on the ground of circumstances of her birth.
After reviewing the argument of the parties, the Court Presided by Hon. Justice B. B. Kanyip expressed thus;
“…The attempt to justify the dismissal is the argument of the defendant that the termination of the claimant’s employment was as a result of her poor performance, and that same cannot be linked to any form of discrimination as she was not discriminated against by the defendant in any way. This explanation cannot support the dismissal of the claimant as dismissal connotes gross misconduct, not poor performance. The defendant’s justification is accordingly untenable; and I so find and hold.
The argument of the defendant that an employer may terminate an employment without notice may be true (although the defendant appears to equate and hence confuse this with the statement of law that an employment may be terminated without reason); but that is at the risk of bearing all the consequences of having to terminate without notice.
I am accordingly satisfied that the claimant’s appointment was determined without reasonable/adequate notice and so is wrongful as it is a breach of the contract of employment.
On the whole the claimant’s case succeeds in terms of the following orders:
- The defendant shall pay to the claimant the sum of Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000.00) only being one month’s salary in lieu of notice for breach of the contract of employment.
- The defendant shall pay to the claimant the sum of Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N2,500,000.00) only being damages for physical harassment, discrimination at work based on circumstance of her birth and false imprisonment.
- Cost of this suit is put at Three Hundred Thousand Naira (N300,000.00) only payable by the defendant to the claimant.
- These sums indicated in orders (1), (2) and (3) above are to be paid to the claimant by the defendant within 30 days of this judgment, failing which they shall attract 10% interest per annum until fully paid.
