Hon. Justice Anthony Ubaka of the Lagos Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court has declared the purported summary dismissal of one Mabel from the service of United Bank for Africa as wrongful.
Justice Ubaka stated that the evidence before the Court established that Mabel was not given a fair hearing, and once there is a breach of fair hearing, all the proceedings are null and void.
Justice Ubaka stated that the action of United Bank for Africa is akin to producing a result before writing an examination and ordered the UBA to pay Mabel one month’s salary in lieu of notice, with the sum of N200,000 as cost of action within 30 days.
From facts, the claimant, Mabel, had contended that the entire investigative report and the disciplinary committee report on her purported dismissal were all based on speculation, false assumptions, and outright conjectures, as the UBA failed to make police investigative report available before the honourable court in determining whether due process and fair hearing were observed.
Counsel to Mabel submitted that the summary dismissal of his client was not done in line with an established policy or procedure contained in the United Bank for Africa’s Staff Handbook and this being so, the purported disciplinary committee recommendations were devoid of any semblance of fairness and has caused incalculable harm and damage to her image and reputation.
In defence, the United Bank for Africa averred that Mabel was dismissed from the services of the Bank for gross misconduct in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract of employment between the Bank and Mabel, and that the dismissal is neither unlawful nor wrongful.
In opposition, Mabel’s counsel, E. I Alosiba with E.O Okpomo, maintained that all that the panel and disciplinary committee succeeded in doing was to cower and intimidate Mabel to submission, without affording her the opportunity to explain herself and state her case in an environment devoid of fear and intimidation; that their client was never offered a comprehensive reason for her dismissal, and urged the court to grant the reliefs sought.
Delivering judgment after careful evaluation of the submission of both parties, the presiding judge, Justice Ubaka, held that where there is allegation of misconduct, the employer has a duty to show that the dismissal was lawful, and the report where the UBA contended that Mabel was invited to the disciplinary committee and she voluntarily honoured the invitation and begged the disciplinary committee to temper justice with mercy is not before the court.
The court stated that the evidence before the Court established that the United Bank for Africa set up a team and Mabel was not given the opportunity to state her own side.
Justice Ubaka stated that the action of UBA is akin to producing a result before writing an examination on the ground that the summary hearing by the disciplinary committee focused on the role each staff played but did not issue a query to hear their side of the story, and no query was issued to which response could have formed the basis for the UBA to rely on and find the fact of misconduct levelled against Mabel justified.
The court agreed with the learned counsel that Mabel was not given the opportunity to defend herself before she was summarily dismissed as Mabel stated that she did her job diligently during her employment with the Bank.
Justice Ubaka held that there is no way the dismissal of Mabel can be lawful without recourse to the principle that a query has to be issued and a response received before reaching a just conclusion.
