By Francis H. Murray
Justice Sengu Koroma, presiding at the Industrial and Social Security division of the High Court in Freetown has ruled that the Bank of Sierra Leone was wrong in their dismissal of one Patrick Massaquoi in May of 2019.
Delivering his judgment on Monday 1st February 2021, Justice Koroma noted that the defendant (Bank of Sierra Leone) was liable to the Plaintiff for wrongful dismissal for which a payment plan has been ordered in respect of damages for the wrongful dismissal of the former security guard.
He ordered that the bank pays the plaintiff monies including leave rate/pay for two years, annual leave allowance and termination of service, salary, backlog salary and end of service benefits amounting to just over Le. 66, 000, 000
The action was initiated by Massaquoi in a complaint letter dated 25th June 2019 to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS), claiming that he had been wrongfully dismissed by the bank.
The MLSS invited both parties to a conciliation meeting but no settlement was reached for which the ministry referred the matter to the industrial division of the High Court.
Hearing of the matter commenced on the 10th October 2019.
In his testimony Massaquoi told the court that he started working for the bank on 1st April 2015 as a security guard with his letter of employment tendered in court.
He recalled that he was on duty on the 17th April 2017, at the second reception desk of the bank when one Mrs Cecelia Ben-Carew, a staff of the bank came in with two “Ghana must go” bags which he suspected contained bank notes.
He said he intercepted Mrs. Carew and ensured that the bags were not placed within the premises of the bank, adding that he reported the matter to his supervisor who in turn promised to report the incident to the management of the bank.
Massaquoi said he proceeded on leave in April 2017 only to resume work in May and latter got arrested in August by the Criminal Investigations Department officers and was detained for a period of 13days and was later discharged by a magistrate only to be re-arrested by the ACC which conducted their own information and still could not find him wanting, adding that it was after another internal investigations conducted by the bank that he was dismissed.
The first defendant witness Adizatu Vangahim, also an employee of the bank told the court that after investigations were conducted into the matter by the bank, it was clear that the plaintiff did not report the incident - an action the bank considered as one that could harm its reputation saying she was not aware that the ACC had written to the bank that the plaintiff was not found wanting.
Justice Koroma concluded that: “that the Plaintiff took the necessary steps to inform his superiors of the antics of Mrs. Ben-Carew and should not have been dismissed on that ground.”
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