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Bankers Win Wrongful Dismissal Case
By Dickson Jere
A bank lost K951,300 in a fraudulent transaction on its internet banking profile for one client. Upon internal investigations, it placed the blame on two employees whom it accused of creating the internet banking profile for a client without following procedures. They were charged with negligence of duty.
Consequently, the two employees were summarily dismissed from their jobs after being subjected to the company grievance and disciplinary process. Their appeal was also rejected by the company.
The two bankers filed a case in the High Court against the employers arguing that they were wrongly or unfairly dismissed and that they have since suffered mental anguish as a result of the dismissal. The demanded for 36 months salary as compensation.
After hearing the evidence, the High Court found that despite the two employees having been subjected to the right and fair disciplinary procedure before dismissal, the charges against them were not supported by evidence during the said hearing.
Further, the Court found that the fraud that occurred was not as a result of negligence by the two workers but it was the system failure.
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“I find that the Plaintiff’s (employees) dismissal from employment was abrupt, inconveniencing and traumatizing. They were used as scapegoats for the defendant’s (bank) flawed internet banking system, which they had no control of,” ruled Judge Maria Mapani-Kawimbe.
“As such the defendant (bank) had a duty to have assured itself that its internet banking system was thoroughly tested for flaws before deploying it for use to its employees,” the Judge further observed, adding that it was a second incident.
She then added; “since the defendant had experienced an incident on xxxxx account, it had greater responsibility to ensure the integrity and efficacy of its internet banking system as opposed to blaming its employees.”
The Judge further observed that the two were unlikely to get employment in the baking sector where their careers had taken root or find any job at all and therefore she awarded them 36 month’s salary as damages (compensation) with interest and costs.
“Additionally, their pension benefit, which accrued by virtue of their employment contracts is awarded for the notice period,” the Judge said but declined to award damages for mental anguish because they did not produce evidence of suffering from such.
The two were fired on 31st May 2021 and will therefore get interest on the compensation from that date until payment is made.
Case citation – Martin Tembo and another v Zambia National Commercial Bank Plc (2022/HP/0156) – Judgment delivered on 3rd February 2023 in open Court.
This is not legal opinion on the subject matter and if in need of any legal advice, kindly consult your lawyer. This commentary is for academic and intellectual discourse especially for those studying Human Resources, Industrial Psychology and Employment Law.
The court has powers to reverse the findings of the disciplinary proceedings of the company if not found that evidence did not support the dismissal despite procedures heaving been followed.
