Court dismisses Okeke, 41 Others’ entitlement claim against Nigerian Breweries
The Presiding Judge, Makurdi Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Isaac Essien has dismissed the entitlement claim filed by former staff of Consolidated Brewery, Mr. Batholomew Okeke and 41 others against Nigerian Breweries Plc, Makurdi for lacking merit.
The Court held that Mr. Batholomew Okeke and 41 others’ acceptance of their retirement benefits constitutes a bar to their claim, and the summary of the computation which gave a lump sum of monies to them as their terminal benefits was in perfect compliance with their collective agreement.
Justice Essien declined to grant Mr. Batholomew Okeke and 41 others claim of 200,000,000 general and aggravated damages for alleged hardship and breach of contract and ordered them to pay the Nigerian Breweries the sum of N100,000 as cost of action.
From facts, the claimants- Mr. Batholomew Okeke and 41 others had asked for an order directing the Nigerian Breweries forthwith to pay the claimants the outstanding balance of their entitlement in line with the Employee Handbook and collective agreements.
They posited that Nigerian Breweries is deemed to have taken over all the assets and liabilities of Consolidated Breweries PLC, and following the collective agreement with their union which authorised the restructuring carried out by Consolidated Breweries which was to result in the down-sizing of the workforce, the company failed to calculate their gratuity and redundancy benefits for the purpose of paying whichever is higher and other entitlements in line with the collective agreement.
In defense, the defendant- Nigerian Breweries Plc accepted that it acquired Consolidated Breweries Plc in December 2014 but never inherited Mr. Batholomew Okeke and 41 others as its employees, and posited that the claimants had left the employment of Consolidated Breweries Plc more than a year before Nigerian Breweries acquired Consolidated Breweries and therefore had nothing to do with them and relied on the letters of termination of employment issued to them.
The company maintained that Mr. Batholomew Okeke and 41 others have collected their entitlements and urged the court to dismiss the case in its entirety for lacking substance.
Delivering the judgment, the presiding Judge, Justice Isaac Essien held that Abi Avamesesule- (40th claimant) retired upon the attainment of the mandatory retirement age, and there was never an employment relationship between him and the Nigerian Breweries for which any claim could be founded.
Justice Essien declared that the letters of termination tendered through Exhibits elicited compliance with the required notice to terminate Mr. Batholomew Okeke and 41 others’ employment, and they failed to lead any evidence to show that their termination was in breach of any term of employment.
