Labour court awards over Sh8 million to Laikipia teacher unlawfully suspended by TSC

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will pay over Sh8 million to a high school teacher it illegally suspended from work and denied payment for more than a year.

Justice Onesmus Makau of the Employment and Labour Relations Court ordered the teachers' employer to pay Jane Wangare the amount of Sh6,099,418 after finding that the tutor who was the principal of the Laikipia Garrison Secondary School was illegally dismissed from employment.

The judge also declared Wangare's unclear suspension unfair and null and, therefore required to be reinstated to employment.

Wangare will be paid Sh3,665, 990 – which is what she had asked for, as her salary and benefits including annual salary increment irregularly recovered and withheld for the period she was on interdiction and suspension from September 2020 up to December 2021.

But Justice Makau noted that the amount ought to have been Sh3,796,216, maintaining that he would award what was sought by the teacher.

She will also be paid for outstanding irregular recoveries of Sh321,370.50 which has since been recovered as per the pay slips and Sh2 million for exemplary damages for mental anguish, torture, inhumane treatment and embarrassment.

In addition, Wangare will be paid a one-month salary of Sh112,058 as compensation for her disturbance allowance on transfer and the TSC will refund her the amount she incurred seeking justice in court.

The teacher had told the court during the hearings that her daughter had discontinued her undergraduate studies at the Technical University of Kenya owing to financial challenges and sought relief from the court.

Wangare had been transferred from Laikipia to a school in Meru County which she did not take over after the school handover team declined to share books of accounts which she demanded before assuming office.

The then Meru County director of education wrote to the TSC headquarters requesting another principal for Ncoroiboro Secondary and Wangare remained uncertain of her fate.

Both Laikipia and Meru county directors of education disowned her as she had already left Laikipia and had not taken up her duties in Meru and she was hence "constructively dismissed" from duty.

Wangare visited the TSC Head office on October 13, 2020, after the Covid-19 lockdown was lifted to follow up with her grey deployment and she was told to write down where she was, why she delayed going to the office and give her address.

She was then told to wait for communication. Due to Covid-19 containment measures, she was not to go past the customer care desk at the TSC headquarters.

The now jubilant teacher made several visits to the TSC head office in Nairobi on enquiries but the worst happened on January 11, 2021, when she visited the office again and was given an interdiction letter for the allegation that she had declined transfer to Ncoroiboro Secondary School.

"I award the claimant (Wangare) exemplary damages for hardship, mental anguish and inhuman treatment she was subjected to by the unlawful and irregular treatment by the (TSC) and its senior officers," Justice Makau said.

"I have already made a finding that she was victimised for doing what was right. She was denied work, income, and medical cover when she was sick, her daughter dropped out of the University and then she was dragged into an irregular disciplinary process for 16 months. I will award a sum of Sh2,000,000 for the same."

The judge also nullified the proceedings of disciplinary hearings that Wangare was subjected to before she was suspended and her salary withheld.

Justice Makau also declared illegal the TSC's actions of recovering salaries from Wangare after accusing her of illegal earnings – receiving payment while not working.

"The suspension of (Wangare) is nullified and she is deemed to have been in continuous service of the (TSC) with full benefits between February 2020 and December 2021 when she was posted to another school. Accordingly, (Wangare) is entitled to salary for the time it was stopped from September 2020 to December 2021, 16 months equaling Sh2,738,304," the judge said.

"She was not served with a show cause letter or desertion letter before the interdiction. The procedure requires that a desertion letter be served after an absence for 14 days but that procedure was not followed. It is her who visited the offices severally to seek direction after the Covid-19 lockdown was lifted."