- According to affidavits sworn by Mr Ochieng, he is a Flight Maintenance Engineer by profession and at the time of seeking employment with Jambojet Ltd, he was employed by ALS Limited. Jambojet offered him a letter of appointment in 2017, he resigned from his job at ALS Limited soon after. Jambojet did not however deploy him and consequently, he did not take up his new appointment. It is this botched recruitment that is the subject of the dispute
A former employee at Jambojet Limited Walter Ochieng has won a case against the carrier at the Employment and Labour Relations Court over a botched recruitment move. A ruling dated 27th July 2023 by Judge Janet Ndolo, reads in part “In the end, I enter judgment in favour of the Claimant as follows: 3 months’ salary in compensation (Ksh. 1,269,000), 2 months’ salary in lieu of notice (Ksh. 846,000), Total Ksh. 2,115,000.
According to affidavits sworn by Mr Ochieng, he is a Flight Maintenance Engineer by profession and at the time of seeking employment with Jambojet Ltd, he was employed by ALS Limited. Jambojet offered him a letter of appointment in 2017, he resigned from his job at ALS Limited soon after. Jambojet did not however deploy him and consequently, he did not take up his new appointment. It is this botched recruitment that is the subject of the dispute.
Mr Ochieng revealed in court how he participated in a competitive recruitment exercise carried out by Jambojet, upon which he was issued with a letter of appointment dated June 22, 2017, by which he was employed in the position of A&P Engineer at a starting salary of Ksh. 423,000.
However, he stated that he was not assigned duties but was instead kept waiting at the Jambojet offices and was later told by the Human Resource Manager to wait to be contacted. However, he did not receive any further communication from Jambojet. The airline later wrote letters dated January 10, 2018, and January 26, 2018, stating that Mr Ochieng could not be deployed because of ‘failure to successfully complete the security clearance process.’
The airline went further to claim that Ochieng failed to meet the conditions set in the letter of appointment and the employment did not crystallize and that the reasons for the withdrawal of his letter of appointment were communicated to him verbally when he visited Jambojet offices to inquire about his employment.
The company later accused Mr Ochieng of withholding crucial information about his employment record with Kenya Airways PLC. They claimed that Ochieng’s employment was terminated by Kenya Airways on allegations of theft in an aircraft. Jambojet claimed that Mr Ochieng knowingly withheld this information because he understood that a person with questionable integrity could not be granted clearance to have access to sensitive areas and aircraft.
The judge noted that there was no evidence that Mr Ochieng failed to disclose any material fact relating to his employment with Kenya Airways or the termination of his employment there. “The allegation of ‘failure to successfully complete the security clearance processes was therefore an unsubstantiated statement that could not be objectively verified”.
The ruling reads in part “In the circumstances of this case, I find and hold that in rescinding the claimant’s employment, the respondent breached the requirements of fair procedure and the rescission amounted to unfair termination of employment”.
