Ramon Oladimeji
The Lagos Division of the National
Industrial Court has ordered MTN Nigeria Communications to pay full four
years post-disengagement salaries to 63 workers, who were laid off by
the company in 2009.
The court presided over by Justice P.O.
Lifu also awarded additional N10,000 against MTN in favour of each of
the 63 workers to cover the cost of filing the suit numbered
NICN/LA/596/2013.
Justice Lifu said MTN must pay the
judgment credit sum within 30 days from October 26, 2016 when the
judgment was delivered, failing which the judgment credit would attract
an annual interest of 10 per cent.
The claimants in the suit are Harrison
Ossai, Gabriel Ameh and Stephen Mahaja, who sued on behalf of themselves
and 60 other workers laid off by MTN with the condition that they must
never work with any other telecommunication company for four years after
their disengagement.
The claimants had, in their suit,
claimed to have been subjected to financial hardship on account of the
restraint of trade imposed them by MTN.
Ossai, in his testimony before the
court, said the trade restraint imposed by MTN bungled his chances of
being employed by Globacom and Airtel, which were other
telecommunication companies, adding that after being sacked by MTN, he
was jobless for six years.
Like other claimants, he urged the court to order MTN to pay him N10m and another N20m for filing the suit.
In his judgment, Justice Lifu said he
was “satisfied that the claimants had proved their claims before the
court as to the oppressive and unreasonableness of the restraint of
trade covenant for four years for making and leaving the claimants hard
and dry for four years.”
The judge held, “Terminating the
employment of the claimants and at the same time restricting them from
seeking any employment from the sector generally and preventing them to
be acting as agents or adviser or to engage in any other concern
directly or indirectly for four years is clearly unreasonable in the
light of global economic challenges occasioned by recession, which has
resulted in mass unemployment.”
The judge ruled that each of the
workers was entitled to be paid his last gross salary for four years
after being sacked and ordered MTN to pay with an additional N10,000
each as cost.
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