A woman has been fired for increasing her monthly payment after losing a court battle.
The woman, identified as Catherine Ochako, was accused of awarding herself a pay rise while working as an accountant at Del Monte Kenya Ltd.
According to reports, she was earning Ksh. 91,105 but changed it to Ksh 250,000 after taking sick leave in November 2020.
Ochako happened to have been fired the same year in December.
Following the termination, she sued the company, seeking Ksh 2 million in damages for alleged unlawful termination.
Ochako stated that she intended to check whether the payroll system was functioning correctly and not to defraud her employer.
She further stated that she did not receive the altered pay, and hence, the company did not suffer any monetary loss.
After observing the findings from an internal investigation, Ochako was found guilty, making the Employment and Labour court uphold her termination.
The court found out that she had increased her housing allowance and transport allowances to Ksh.35,000 from Ksh.19,000 as well as Ksh.28,000 from Ksh 7,500, respectively.
Investigations also revealed that she made her first pay increase on November 11 when the sick leave was granted and later readjusted it to Ksh.170,000.
Later on, she increased her pay to Ksh 200,000.
Justice Bryam Onyaga, who delivered the ruling, noted that the company followed legal procedures to fire Ochako, claiming that the dismissal was not unfair and termed her actions a breach of trust and misconduct.
