Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki has lost a whopping Ksh 2.2 million to young city lawyer Yasmin Josephine Mokaya who used to work for him.
Mokaya sued Kindiki’s law firm for unlawful dismissal and the Employment and Labour Relations court ruled in her favor.
The plaintiff sued the law firm for violating her constitutional rights after they sacked her for being pregnant.
In her affidavit, Mokaya said she joined Kindiki’s law firm, Kithure Kindiki & Associates, as a trainee in June 2015 and upon being admitted to the bar, she was retained by the firm in January 2016.
The plaintiff worked on a contractual basis until January 2018 when she informed Kindiki that she was pregnant and that she intended to proceed on her statutory three-month maternity leave from March 5th to June 5th, 2018.
Mokaya said Kindiki approved her maternity leave but nonetheless refused to pay her for the three months that she was to be off work.
The Tharaka Nithi senator coerced Mokaya to take unpaid leave but she refused, he hinted to her that her employment would be terminated unless she changed her mind.
Mokaya was ultimately served with a notice of termination of her employment written by Senator Kindiki dated March 1st 2018, to take effect on March 31st.
The termination letter stated that the reason for the termination was due to “a long spell of financial constraints.”
Mokaya on February 14th 2019 petitioned the Labour court seeking declaration that her termination of service by the Kindiki’s law firm was based on her pregnancy – therefore unlawful as it was violation of her constitutional right.
Defense lawyer Moses Mpuria told the court that Mokaya was not terminated on account of her pregnancy but because the firm could no longer afford to pay her and other employees due to financial constraints.
His argument was dismissed by Justice Mathews Nduma who noted that Kindiki’s law firm replaced Mokaya with another advocate named Lilian Nyaga.
Justice Nduma also said the law firm did not give a one-month notice of redundancy to the petitioner and the Labour Officer.
The court ruled that Kindiki’s law firm should pay Mokaya Ksh2,274,051 for violating her constitutional rights by unlawfully terminating her employment.
Kindiki will now pay the young advocate Ksh1.5 million as damages for violation of her rights, Ksh552,894 (equivalent to six months compensation for unlawful and unfair termination of employment), Ksh129,008 (compensation for unspent leave days) and Ksh92,149 (her one month salary in lieu of notice).
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