I felt I was not treated fairly - witness tells court

Lamin Jobe, former employee of Kololi Beach Club, recently revealed in his testimony before Kanifing tribunal that he felt he was not treated fairly by his former employer.

The plaintiffs, Lamin Jobe and Samba Sedibeh, both filed a suit against their former employer (Hotel Management Training and Kololi Beach Club), making claim for unfair dismissal, damages for breach of contract, and compensation.

Testifying before Chairman Jobarteh of the Industrial Tribunal in Kanifing, the plaintiff, who last served as a duty manager of the defendant, told the court he was employed by the defendant as security.

The plaintiff also applied and tendered his staff ID obtained from the defendant, which was admitted in evidence.

He said the defendant some time ago served a letter to the staff that he was going to change the name of the business from Kololi Beach Club to Hotel Management Training.

The plaintiff asserted that he was given a new ID which bore the name of both Kololi Beach Club and Hotel Management Training.

At that juncture, the plaintiff applied to tender the said letter and his ID, which were both admitted by the tribunal.

At the time of his employment, only the personnel manager was a Gambian, the witness adduced, saying his employment letter was given to him two years later.

Still testifying, the plaintiff indicated that he had several promotions until his last position as a duty manager.

Promotion letters on positions such as chief security were tendered by the witness and admitted in evidence.

“On 16 June 2011, I was called by the Operations Manager that there was an emergency and that I was needed to be there,” he explained.

The witness said that when he went, he was called to the boardroom, noting that Bakary Jobe and Haddy Jeng gave him a redundancy letter.

The said letter was also tendered and admitted in evidence.

He further revealed that he was also given two-month notice.

“We were called at the President’s Office to give statements, which we did,” he added.

According to him, Lamin Jarju, general manager, was also called to go and answer.

The plaintiff told the tribunal that they reported back to the defendant, adding that the general manager, the personal manager and Nicolas Williams all admitted making a mistake for offering them a two-month notice.

“They told us that they will now pay six months by installment,” he revealed, saying that when he was given a redundancy letter, his position was given to the head of the reception.

“I feel I was not treated fairly,” he concluded.

Hearing was set to continue on 14 August 2012.