Kenya Shipping Cleaning & Warehouses Workers Union v Vegpro (K) Limited & another [2021] KEELRC 25 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan employment court refused to reinstate a union's suit because the union ignored court notices and took no steps to move its case for nearly two years.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the dismissal of the suit for want of prosecution on 18th October, 2021 should be set aside
The application was dismissed; the dismissal was proper because the claimant failed to take any step to prosecute the suit since 18th December, 2019 and showed no good cause
The court invoked Rule 16 of the ELRC (Procedure) Rules, 2016 permitting notice and dismissal where no action is taken for one year. Notices were issued through the claimant's address on record (kuscwwu/kscwwu@yahoo.com) and only the 1st respondent attended the mentions of 21st July 2021, 28th September 2021 and 18th October 2021. The claimant's contention that it was served on wrong email addresses did not displace service through the address on record. The COVID-19 excuse was rejected as operations were hybrid from May 2020.
Whether service on the email addresses kswwunbi@gmail.com and kufaw16@gmail.com vitiates the dismissal
No, because notice was also served through the claimant's address on record, kuscwwu@yahoo.com, and the claimant offered nothing against that address
The court retraced the claimant's correspondence of 3rd March 2018, 3rd October 2017 and 20th August 2018 showing the yahoo address. Notices of 12th July 2021 and 28th September 2021 were issued through that address on record. The claimant only contested the gmail addresses and said nothing about the address on record, so service was confirmed.
Legal principles established
#- Where no action has been taken by either party within one year from the date of filing, the Court may issue notice to show cause and, if no reasonable cause is shown, dismiss the suit
- A party who fails to attend court after notice through its address on record and fails to take steps to prosecute a suit is not a diligent litigant and cannot resist dismissal for want of prosecution
Court orders
#- 1.Application dated 22nd October, 2021 dismissed
- 2.Costs of the application to the 1st respondent
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Employment and Labour Relations Court (Procedure) Rules, 2016, Rule 16 (inherent jurisdiction to set aside its own orders; not expressly cited by provision in the extract)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kenya Shipping Cleaning & Warehouses Workers Union v Vegpro (K) Limited & another [2021] KEELRC 25 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2021). Not stated in the judgment extract. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2021/25/eng@2021-12-20
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.