Former Staff Sues Employers For Alleged Unlawful Termination

A former employee of
Micro Product Limited, Mrs Rakiyat Stephen, last Wednesday in Abuja sued the company for alleged unlawful termination of her employment.
Stephen joined the managing director of the company as a defendant in the suit, which was instituted at the National Industrial Court.
The claimant, who was employed by the company in August 2008, told the court that the defendants terminated her employment in January 2013 without following due procedure.
She alleged that the defendants terminated her employment when she took permission for two days to take care of her ailing husband, who was hospitalised.
The claimant is praying the court to declare the termination of her appointment as unlawful, null and void and of no effect.
She is also praying the court to order that she be reinstated and paid all her entitlements, including her leave allowance for five years.
Mr Julius Ikhine, the counsel to the defendants, urged the court to strike out the name of the second defendant, on the grounds that the company’s managing director was not “a legal person separate from the company’’.
The presiding Judge, Justice Peter Lifu, granted his request, and adjourned the case to October 28, for hearing.
“I hereby order that the name of the Managing Director of Micro Product Ltd be struck out. This is because the managing director is not an official position crafted by statute,” he ruled.