Court uphold termination of former Stanbic CEO’s PA for failure to secure him visa
The Employment and Labor Relations Court has upheld the sacking of former Personal Assistant to Stanbic Bank Regional CEO Greg Brackenridge for failing to secure him visa for travel purposes.
The former personal assistant Jacinta Wambua failed to secure a visa for her boss to travel to the Czech Republic with his family for the December 2017 holidays and had paid for accommodation.
Justice Anna Mwaure agreed with the lender that the former PA was negligent in her duties.
“The claimant neglected to perform a duty she was bound to perform much to the inconvenience and financial loss of the chief executive. She did not offer any apologies but instead blamed the chief executive that he did not supply her with the relevant documents on time,” said the judge.
Wambua had accused the bank of unlawful and unfair termination as she had worked for the CEO for nine years, earning a pay of Sh251,250 and argued that she had never had any disciplinary matters.
She accused the former employer of conducting an unlawful and irregular disciplinary proceeding in February 2018 before sacking her.
The court heard that Wambua joined the bank as a receptionist and was promoted over the years eventually becoming the PA to the regional CEO.
She argued that the trip was personal and was not part of her job description and that she was given documents on December 11, 2017, to process visas and tried to get visas for Malta and Germany.
Wambua argued that if she was given enough time, she would have processed the visa to the Czech Republic as directed.
She blamed her boss for not providing the required documents within the expected time.
She believed that the decision to lay her off was made by Brackenridge and the disciplinary process was intended to rubber stamp the dismissal.
The bank said it had justifiable reasons to terminate her job for willful neglect of her duties as the assignment in question fell within her job description.
Justice Mwaure agreed with the lender saying there is no evidence for the delay from November 10, 2017, to December 11, 2017.
