The Nairobi-based company lost a major legal battle because the Employment and Labour Relations Court determined that terminating an employee who participated in a mutual workplace romance violated their constitutional rights.
The court issued a groundbreaking decision that shocked Kenyan corporate human resource departments when it awarded Ksh 790,000 to the terminated employee who proved that professional competence testing requires more than measuring a worker’s heartbeat.
The case erupted after the claimant was summarily dismissed for dating a colleague, a move the employer defended as a breach of internal “non-fraternization” policies. The management claimed that the relationship created an office integrity breach, which resulted in a conflict of interest.
The court rejected the management defense because Justice James Rika ruled that employees maintain their right to privacy and their right to associate with others after entering their workplace.
The court instructed that employers cannot monitor their employees’ personal relationships except when those relationships directly damage workplace productivity or violate essential trust obligations.
The judge determined that the dismissal procedure had followed incorrect steps because the Employment Act lacked any legal foundation for dismissal. The court granted the victim almost one million shillings, which functions as compensation while serving as a warning against excessive authority from corporate executives.
The verdict creates a complete transformation of the existing power balance between employers and their employees throughout Kenya.
The “God complex,” which many corporate organizations possess, enables them to dominate their employees’ private activities under the false pretense of maintaining “professionalism.” Employees have endured personal relationship problems because they feared losing their jobs for having social ties with others.
The judiciary imposed a Ksh 790000 penalty on the company, which created a clear signal that the office contract exists to provide labor services instead of working rights for employees. Corporate Kenya must conduct an immediate audit of their handbooks because the court ruling established that “dating while employed” no longer constitutes a valid reason for termination.
Leave a Reply