Keroche Breweries is facing more woes after it was ordered to pay its former managing director Sam Shollei Sh45.5 million for illegal sacking.
Employment and Labour Relations judge Hellen Wasilwa termed Mr Shollei’s sacking in November 2018 as unlawful because the former MD was not given a notice or reasons for his sacking.
Mr Shollei was fired hardly one year after he reported to work at the Naivasha-based brewery. The former MD was headhunted based on his employment record.
His sacking stemmed from an email he sent to the top management and which was deemed as demeaning and disrespectful. He was also accused of poor performance after the company’s sales dropped.
The court directed Keroche to pay him six months salary for failure to given him notice as stated in the contract. He will additionally get 10 months salary as compensation for unfair termination, which amounts to Sh25 million and gratuity of Sh5.5 million.
Mr Shollei was given a total of Sh52.5 million minus the Sh7 million he was paid when he was fired on November 23, 2018.
“As provided under Section 45(2) of the Employment Act, the termination of the contract was unfair and unjustified,” the court said.
The court said termination can be termed as unfair if the employer fails to prove that the reason for termination was valid.
In Mr Shollei’s case, the court rejected claim that he was fired for poor performance because the employer failed to give a basis.
The court heard that Mr Shollei was employed by Keroche on July 10, 2017 on gross salary of Sh2.5 million. The contract was to last four years.
