Woman fired for awarding herself pay increments loses court battle

Catherine Ochako is said to have awarded herself a pay rise while working as an accountant at Del Monte Kenya Ltd.

According to court documents obtained by Citizen.Digital, Ochako was earning Ksh.91,105 but changed it to Ksh.250,000 after taking sick leave in November 2020 and being fired in December of the same year.

She sued the company, seeking Ksh.2 million in damages for what she claimed was an unlawful termination.

The Employment and Labour Court upheld the company's decision to fire her after observing that findings from an internal investigation found Ochako's alterations factual.

Ochako was found to have additionally increased her housing allowance to Ksh.35,000 from Ksh.19,000 as well as Ksh.28,000 from Ksh.7,500 in transport allowance.

The court was told that she made the first alteration on November 11 when the sick leave was granted and later readjusted it to Ksh.170,000.

She is said to have later altered it to Ksh.200,000.

Ochako argued that her intent was to check whether the payroll system was functioning correctly and not to defraud her employer.

She further noted that she did not receive the altered pay and hence the company did not suffer any monetary loss.

Justice Byram Onyaga however found that the company followed due procedure in firing Ochako, adding that her actions were a breach of trust and misconduct.

"The misconduct as alleged was established is not in doubt. As to whether another employer would not have dismissed is immaterial. The dismissal was not unfair," Justice Onyaga noted.