Court orders Mediheal Hospital to pay dismissed employee Sh510,000 salary arrears
In determining the suit, Justice Manani noted that Karori testified on oath to the effect that he was an employee of the hospital and that it did not remunerate him for the period under review
The Employment and Labour Court has ordered Mediheal Hospital Limited to pay Ksh 510,000 to a former employee who was laid off without being paid his salary arrears.
Justice Bernard Manani, sitting in Nairobi, directed hospital’s Nairobi branch to pay Conrad Mokua Karori who was employed at the facility as Laboratory Technician his salary arrears for the five months he was to be paid before being laid off on January 2024.
In determining the suit, Justice Manani noted that Karori testified on oath to the effect that he was an employee of the hospital and that it did not remunerate him for the period under review.
He further noted that Karori’s case was not controverted by the hospital, the latter having failed to enter appearance and file a defence to the cause after it was served with the court processes.
“The respondent having failed to rebut the Claimant’s case, I arrive at the conclusion that the Claimant has established his claim on a balance of probabilities. In the premises I enter judgment for him (the Claimant) against the respondent,” Justice Manani ordered.
He proceeded to order the hospital to pay the principal sum of Ksh 510,000 to Karori together with interest at court rates from the date of the judgment.
Karori had averred that between September 2023 and January 2024 when his services were halted, the respondent owed him Ksh 550,000 in salary arears. He submitted that efforts to have the respondent pay him this amount have proved futile prompting him to institute the instant suit in a bid to recover the money.
The court noted that the respondent was served with summons to enter appearance on May 29, 2024, where he failed to appear in the cause or file defense, “As such, the matter proceeded to trial by way of formal proof.”
Karori contended that Mediheal did not pay him salary for the period running between September 2023 and January 31, 2024. He stated that his monthly salary was Ksh 110,000 and that the respondent had not paid him for the five months.
As such, the amount due to him was Ksh 550,000 less Ksh 40,000 which the respondent paid him in form of salary advance.
