Court Fines NNPC N600m for Wrongful Employment Dismissal
The Presiding Judge, Portharcourt Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Faustina Kola-Olalere has declared the employment dismissal of Dr. Williams from the service of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as wrongful.
The Court ordered the NNPC to pay Dr Williams the sum of N24.6m unpaid salaries during his period of suspension, with the sum of N600m exemplary damages for the determination of his employment without any reasonable cause, and N5m cost of action within 2 months.
Justice Kola-Olalere held that the NNPC determination of the employment of Dr Williams by way of dismissal rather than by termination as recommended by the Ad-Hoc Committee was wrongful because it was not in accordance with the terms and conditions of Dr Williams’s employment as stated in NNPC Corporate Policy and Procedure Guide (CPPG).
From facts, the Claimant- Dr. Williams has submitted that he worked as an Assistant Administrative Supervisor for the NNPC until his abrupt dismissal from service. Dr Williams averred that his appointment was unjustifiably, unceremoniously, premeditatedly, maliciously, spitefully and willfully dismissed by the NNPC, and urged the court to grant the sum of N25,000,000,000.00 (Twenty-Five billion Naira) damages for breach of contract and unlawful dismissal among other reliefs sought.
In defence, the Defendant- Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) argues that Dr. Williams’s dismissal was lawful due to his gross negligence and dereliction of duty which caused a colossal loss to the company.
Learned Counsel to the NNPC continued that the dismissal of Dr Williams was in line with the NNPC Corporate Policy and Procedure Guide (CPPG), which gives the NNPC the power to dismiss or terminate the appointment of Dr Williams for negligence via a Letter dated 15/02/2018. Counsel urged the Court to dismiss the case in its entirety as lacking in merit.
In opposition, Dr Williams’s Counsel, F.K. Amachree Esq argued that NNPC failed to exhaust or explore all means of fair hearing as outlined in the Corporate Policy & Procedure Guide before dismissing his client, and contended that Dr. Williams’s dismissal by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was wrongful, unjustified, malicious, unceremonious, spiteful, and driven by ill will.
Counsel further argued that the NNPC, after identifying the perpetrator of the fraud as admitted by them, took additional steps on Dr Williams, who had served for over 30 years without any queries or warnings and had never breached the Corporate Policy & Procedures Guidelines, ignoring the recommendation of the Adhoc Committee and dismissing him abruptly, and urged the Court to grant the reliefs sought.
In a well-considered judgment, the Presiding Judge, Justice Faustina Kola-Olalere affirmed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation failed woefully to prove its case of Criminal or gross Negligence against Dr Williams and Dr. Williams was not negligent for the loss to the NNPC.
The Court reasoned that the 1st letter of suspension issued to Dr. Williams by the NNPC did not specify payment of salary which means that the suspension was without pay and ought to have been for maximum of six months contrary to the NNPC Corporate Policy and Procedure Guide.
On the dismissal of Dr Williams, Justice Kola-Olalere held that NNPC’s Corporate Policy and Procedure Guide (CPPG) provides for termination of an employee’s appointment but does not have any provision for dismissal as a means of disengaging the company’s employee.
The Court held that Dr Williams is entitled to his full salary for the duration of his first suspension from duty from January 23, 2015, to May 9, 2016; totalling one year, three months and sixteen days and half of his monthly salary for the period of his second suspension from duty from May 10, 2016 to February 15, 2018 when he was wrongfully dismissed.
“The Claimant has put in several years of meritorious service, with his employment effective from August 23, 1991 (see Exhibit C.1 on page 37 of the record) to February 15, 2018 when he was dismissed, see Exhibit C.35. The Claimant was given several promotions and written commendations by the Defendant as evident in Exhibit C.3. He was a top ranking employee of the Defendant and for him to be disgraced out of his employment by dismissal without any justifiable cause; I find that the Defendant was outrageously reprehensible and reckless in baselessly dismissing the Claimant from its employment.
“Since the wrongful dismissal of the Claimant is now being seen as ‘Wrongful Termination’ in this judgment, I hold that the Claimant is entitled to all his terminal benefits as agreed upon by the parties in their terms of contract of employment less whatever the Defendant has paid him as his terminal benefits, which the Claimant argued is incomplete.” Justice Kola-Olalere ruled.” The Court ruled.
