The Owerri division of the National Industrial Court, Imo State, has awarded a punitive cost of N50 million, against First Bank Plc, in favour of one of its wrongfully dismissed staff, Collins Godspower, over “wrongful blacklisting” by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), following what the court described as “career-damaging and malicious actions by the First Bank.
Justice Nelson Ogbuanya, who presided over the court ordered awarded the judgment sum against First Bank Plc while delivering judgment in a suit marked NICN/YEN/125/2016, filed by Collins Godspower against First Bank Plc.
The judge, also set aside the employment ban placed on Godspower and held that First Bank Plc acted wrongly in forwarding his name and biodata to the CBN as an ex-employee disengaged for fraud and dishonest activities.
Justice Ogbuanya ruled that the action, which led to the claimant’s blacklisting under Section 44(4) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, amounted to unfair labour practice and workplace defamation.
During the trial of the suit Godspower through his lawyer, G. C. Ihunwo, told the court that his employment with the First bank was terminated on the grounds of “services no longer required,” after he had earlier been suspended and later recalled from suspension over allegations of involvement in an unauthorised dollar purchase transaction.
He said he later discovered that his inability to secure another banking job was because First Bank Plc had published his name and photograph on its portal and sent his details to the CBN as one of those dismissed for fraud, leading to his blacklisting from the financial sector.
In its defence, first Bank Plc through its lawyer, A. N. Ozornafor, admitted publishing the claimant’s details and sending his name to the CBN but argued that it acted in compliance with BOFIA and a regulatory circular issued by the apex bank.
The bank also challenged the jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court to hear the matter.
However, Justice Ogbuanya dismissed the objection, affirming that the court has jurisdiction over employment-related disputes, including workplace defamation.
“From the record, I find that the subject matter of the dispute bordering on workplace defamation and the manner of termination of employment raises issues of unfair labour practice in this suit, which involves issues of employment relationship as it arose from the workplace,” the judge held.
He added, “Workplace Defamation, a type of defamation that can only arise in a work environment and related to the routine course of work, borders on labour relations at the workplace, which is essentially different and distinct from general defamation.”
On the merits of the case, the court found that recalling the claimant from suspension pending investigation amounted to his exoneration by operation of law and that there was no justification for reporting him to the CBN.
The judge faulted the bank for terminating the claimant’s employment on one ground while portraying him to regulators as having been disengaged for fraud.
Ogbuanya held, “The claimant’s grouse is not necessarily the mere act of termination of employment on the reason of ‘services no longer required’, but more of the defendant’s overreaching acts of publishing the claimant’s name and photograph in its accessible portal and sending his name to CBN for sanction, without him being indicted or the reason disclosed in his termination letter.”
In awarding damages, the judge held: “The sum of N50,000,000.00 is hereby awarded against the defendant in favour of the claimant, as compensation by way of general damages for the act of unfair labour practice.”
The judge said the wrongful publications “tarnished his cherished career and rendered him jobless and traumatised,” and consequently ordered that the publications be set aside.
“As a consequential order, the said wrongful publications are hereby set aside, and the defendant is restrained from further giving effect to its career-damaging publications against the claimant,” Ogbuanya ruled.
Sources- Punch/NICN
