Justice Zaynab Bashir of the Port Harcourt Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court has ruled that the termination of Mr. Patrick’s employment by United Bank for Africa (UBA) on January 22, 2014, was wrongful and ordered the bank to pay N12,500,000 as damages.
The court found that the dismissal breached the terms of the employment contract.
The court directed UBA to pay Mr. Patrick a total of N12,500,000 (Twelve Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira), which includes: N8,250,000 as bonus payments for two instances where he was rated a role model in the bank’s appraisal reports, N2,250,000 for a third instance of exceptional performance, and N2,000,000 in general damages for wrongful termination. UBA has been ordered to make the payment within 30 days.
Mr. Patrick, who was employed by UBA as a Senior Banking Officer on August 7, 2008, had argued that he was denied performance-induced pay and unpaid salary for the months of November and December 2013, as well as his full salary for January 2014, despite the terms of his contract.
In response, UBA claimed that Mr. Patrick’s services were no longer needed and that his terminal benefits had been paid. UBA’s defense further disputed Mr. Patrick’s claims about emotional distress and mistreatment, urging the court to dismiss the case with a substantial cost.
However, Mr. Patrick’s legal team, led by Counsel B.C. Ugwu with S.E. Nworie, argued that the termination under the reason of “service no longer required” violated UBA’s own Disciplinary Process and Sanctions Policy.
They also pointed out that the bank failed to adhere to the required one-month notice or pay in lieu of notice.
In her judgment, Justice Zaynab Bashir agreed with Mr. Patrick’s counsel, ruling that UBA’s failure to pay salary in lieu of notice at the time of termination rendered the dismissal wrongful.
The court also found that Mr. Patrick failed to prove that the absence of the Disciplinary Committee’s report caused him inhuman treatment, as he had claimed in his N75 million damages suit.
