Ex-Staff Takes Firm To Court Over Wrongful Dismissal

A former employee of
an expatriate company, Bollore Africa Logistics, last Thursday dragged the company to court over alleged wrongful dismissal and discrimination.
The claimant, Mrs Abigail Kakiyes, filed the suit before Justice K.I. Amadi of the National Industrial Court, Lagos.
Our correspondent  reports that Kakiyes started working for the company in August, 2009 at the Kano branch and was the Assistant Manager, Customer Service of the Lagos branch of the company, when she was sacked on September  6, 2012.
Counsel to the claimant, Mrs G.O. Alaba, alleged that Kakiyes had to endure constant belittling and racist remarks from her expatriate bosses during her employment with the company.
The counsel, alleged that during Kakiyes’s time at the Kano branch of the company, she had to share an office with her Manager, Mr Charles Le Belenger, a French man.
The counsel alleged that Le Belenger made Kakiyes to share the office with his dog called “Rambo”.
She was allegedly made to be taking care of the dog, despite her fear of dogs.
Alaba claimed that her client had to endure such racist and belittling remarks like “black monkey”, “moron” and “silly brain” from Le Belenger.
She also alleged that Kakiyes was issued a query and placed on a six-week suspension without pay while at the Lagos branch office for sending an email to staff persuading them to get involved in a charitable venture.
The counsel said that Kakiyes was immediately sacked after her suspension.
The claimant is alleging that the suspension and sack was contrary to the disciplinary policies of the company and that her sack was as a result of discriminatory practices against her by management.
She is also alleging that her email, urging staff to be involved in charity was not unusual because Bollore Africa Logistics partakes in charity in its branches in other African countries.
However, the Defence Counsel, Mr C. Ojukwu, alleged that Kakiyes’s sack was management’s decision and not in connection with the facts she alleged that led to her suspension.
The matter was adjourned to February 4, 2014 for hearing.