Nyeri teacher awarded Sh77,000 over unfair sacking for pregnancy

A primary school teacher sacked by the Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri for becoming pregnant has been awarded Sh77,000 after a court ruled that her dismissal was unlawful.

Employment and Labour Relations Court Judge Onesmus Makau found that the registered trustees of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri did not explain the reasons for the dismissal to Ms Agnes Nyawira at the time of her sacking, nor did they allow her to be heard.

Ms Nyawira, an early childhood development education (ECDE) teacher, was dismissed by letter on June 30, 2022, while on maternity leave.

The letter submitted to the court showed that she was dismissed due to unavoidable circumstances and was asked not to return to school in July after completing her three-month leave.

Ms Nyawira went to court last year. She said that after she was unfairly dismissed, she was replaced by the teacher who had temporarily taken over her position while she was on maternity leave.

"The timing of the decision and the circumstances in which the dismissal took place led the petitioner to believe that she was dismissed because of her pregnancy," said Justice Makau.

The court held that under the Labour Act, the termination of an employee's employment on the grounds of pregnancy amounted to discrimination.

In their defence to the case, the trustees of the church had denied discriminating against their employee on the basis of pregnancy, arguing that the allegation lacked proof.

"We allowed the plaintiff to perform her duties, provided her with reasonable working conditions during her pregnancy, and granted her maternity leave. In addition, she never made a complaint during her employment," they said in court documents.

The church trustees said the dismissal was fair because they gave proper notice and paid her salary for the notice period.

However, Justice Makau found that a notice of termination and payment of salary in lieu of notice did not deny an employee from knowing the reason for dismissal.

Giving directions on compensation, he said since the church trustees gave notice before dismissal, the employee would only be compensated for wrongful dismissal.

"The petitioner only served for two years, but since the reason for dismissal was discriminatory on the basis of pregnancy, I award her six months’ gross salary, which is Sh66,000," Justice Makau said.

He added that the teacher deserved a gratuity of Sh11,000 because she had been working at the school since 2019 — a period of just over two years.