Chairman Jobarteh of the Kanifing Indusrial Tribunal, assisted by panelists Njie and Cole, recently entered judgement against Little Star Co Ltd in favour of one Fatou Colley.
In delivering the judgement, Chairman Jobarteh told the tribunal that by a praecipe, the plaintiff, Fatou Colley, was seeking the following reliefs from the tribunal: recovery of D1,523,460 for unlawful termination, maternity leave, annual leave, interest of 25 per cent, and cost.
He stated that when the defendant was served with the court processes, it sent a letter dated 15 January 2013, seeking adjournment of the suit.
He further posited that the letter and its prayer were rejected and the tribunal asked the plaintiff to prove her claim.
Having perused the evidence led by the plaintiff, said Chairman Jobarteh, the tribunal pursuant to Rules 10 (a) and (b) hereby entered judgement in favour of the plaintiff on the following terms.
On the issue of unlawful termination, he stated that since there was no letter of employment which could have determined the kind of employment between the parties, he shall rely on Section 53 of the Labour Act to conclude that either party was supposed to serve one-month notice or make one-month payment in lieu of notice.
Therefore, he said, the tribunal awarded payment of one-month notice.
Chairman Jobarteh further adduced that on the issue of six months maternity period, he awarded D15,000 as claim by the plaintiff, adding that on the issue of the 14 days annual leave, he awarded D2,500 as canvassed by the plaintiff in the praecipe.
He also awarded D5,000 as cost of the suit and 4 per cent on the awarded sum from the date of the award to the date of payment.
Garba Cham, Secretary General of the Gambia Workers’ Union, represented the plaintiff.
