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ELRCDismissedNot stated in judgment (Memorandum of Appeal dated 31st July 2024)

Juma v United Millers Limited (Appeal E009 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 85 (KLR)

Employment and Labour Relations Court
23 January 2025
NMNzioki wa Makau
2,451 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
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The bottom line

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Kenya's Employment Court confirmed that a show cause letter, a written response, and a disciplinary hearing are enough to make a dismissal lawful.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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This is a first appeal to the Employment and Labour Relations Court at Kisumu from a Senior Resident Magistrate's judgment of 14th July 2023, in which the trial court had found that United Millers Ltd rightfully terminated Richard Odongo Juma's employment for acting contrary to company policies and rules, dismissed his claim, and directed issuance of a certificate of service. The Appellant appealed on three grounds: that the claimed policy breaches rested on non-existent policies; that the trial court failed to apply the law on substantive and procedural fairness; and that it misapprehended the evidence on the balance of probabilities. The appeal was disposed of by written submissions. The Appellant argued the dismissal failed the statutory standards in sections 41, 43, 44 and 45 of the Employment Act and sought notice pay, 12 months' compensation and exemplary damages. The Respondent maintained that the Appellant admitted receiving company money under a different arrangement from that prescribed, that discrepancies between amounts collected and remitted justified disciplinary proceedings, and that the show cause and disciplinary hearing satisfied section 41. The court restated its appellate duty to re-evaluate the whole record. It found the Appellant was notified of the allegations, responded to the show cause, and was heard before the verdict, demonstrating compliance with section 41 and no error by the Magistrate. The appeal was found to lack merit and was dismissed on 23rd January 2025, with each party bearing their own costs.

Questions the Court framed

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The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.

  1. 1.Whether the Appellant's summary dismissal met the requisite statutory standard
  2. 2.Whether the trial Magistrate erred in her conclusion regarding the substantive and procedural fairness of the dismissal
  3. 3.Whether the Appellant is entitled to the reliefs sought

Key legal issues

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01

Procedural fairness under section 41 of the Employment Act

Holding

The Appellant was accorded a hearing; the trial Magistrate did not err in finding procedural fairness

Reasoning

The record showed a notice to show cause served on 17th March 2022, a response on 21st March 2022, a disciplinary hearing on 26th April 2022 and a verdict communicated on 5th May 2022. Section 41 requires notification of the accusation and an opportunity to respond and be heard, all of which were afforded.

p. 5
02

Validity of the reasons for summary dismissal

Holding

The discrepancies between amounts received from customers and amounts remitted sufficiently grounded the disciplinary proceedings and the dismissal

Reasoning

The Respondent's case was that the Appellant retained portions of client money under an arrangement different from the company's prescribed procedure, and the Appellant admitted receiving company money under a different arrangement. The court found no error in the Magistrate's conclusion that the dismissal was justified.

p. 5
03

Duty of a first appellate court

Holding

The appellate court must re-evaluate the evidence and reach its own conclusion, allowing for the absence of first-hand observation of witnesses

Reasoning

The court restated the classic appellate duty, citing Selle v Associated Motor Boat Co, and applied it by reconsidering the record before finding the appeal devoid of merit.

p. 4

Legal principles established

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  • Where an employee is notified of allegations in a show cause letter, responds, and is accorded a disciplinary hearing before a verdict, the safeguards of section 41 of the Employment Act are satisfied and the dismissal is procedurally fair
  • A first appellate court must reconsider the entirety of the case before the court below and reach its own conclusions while mindful it did not see or hear the witnesses

Court orders

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  1. 1.The Appeal is found to lack merit and is dismissed
  2. 2.Each party to bear their own costs

The bench

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One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.

NM
majority

Wrote the judgment

On appeal from
Senior Resident Magistrate's Court
Not stated (ELRC Cause No. 44 of 2012 referenced only as an authority, not the trial file)
Jurisdiction invoked
First appellate jurisdiction over the subordinate court (Employment and Labour Relations Court); specific constitutional/statutory provision not stated in the judgment

Relief refused

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Setting aside the trial court's dismissal of the claim

No demonstration of failure to consider facts or apply the law was discerned

p. 5

Reliefs of one month's salary in lieu of notice, 12 months' compensation and exemplary damages sought on appeal

The dismissal was lawful and procedurally fair; the Magistrate's judgment was upheld

p. 5

Costs

Each party to bear their own costs.

Quotable passages

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Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.

The appeal from all angles is doomed to fail as no demonstration of failure to consider facts or apply the law is discerned. The Appeal is found to lack merit and is accordingly dismissed. Each party to bear their own costs.
p. 5Final orders - dismissal of appeal and costs
That clearly demonstrates the Appellant was accorded the safeguards in law. The Learned Magistrate did not fall into any error in determining that the Respondent had afiorded the Appellant a hearing.
p. 5Procedural fairness under section 41 of the Employment Act
it is the position of an appellate court to reconsider the entirety of the case before the Court below to come to its own conclusion mindful that it did not see or hear the parties testify.
p. 4Duty of a first appellate court

Issues in the judgment

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minor

The judgment does not state the trial court's case number or the name of the Senior Resident Magistrate who decided the case below

minor

The instant appeal's case number is not stated; the appeal is identified only by a Memorandum of Appeal and Record of Appeal dated 31st July 2024

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Later judgments citing this (1)

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Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.

Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Juma v United Millers Limited (Appeal E009 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 85 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated in judgment (Memorandum of Appeal dated 31st July 2024). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/85/eng@2025-01-23

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.