Court orders Airline to pay ex-staff N5m entitlements

The National Industrial Court, has ordered Med-View Airline Nig. Ltd to pay its former staff, Mr Garba Abubakar the sum of N5 million being his unpaid entitlements.

The entitlements accrued from his unpaid salaries from Feb. to Dec. 2018 and unremitted monthly pension deductions from May 2016 to Dec. 2018.

Justice Ebiye Isele while delivering judgment also ordered that the payment be made within 60 days.

The claimant submitted that he was employed by the defendant as a marketing officer, promoted and posted to several stations within and outside Nigeria.

He maintained that in 2017, he was in Dakar until March 30, 2018 when he was posted back to Nigeria.

He averred further that upon his return to Nigeria, he resumed work in April 2018 and worked up until Dec.2018 when the company dispensed with his services.

He further submitted that his salaries for the months of Feb. to Dec. 2018 were not paid and the company also failed to remit his monthly deductions made from his salaries to his Pension Managers for the months of May 2016 to Dec. 2018.

The defendant, in its response, filed a preliminary objection, and urged the court to dismiss the claimant’s suit for non-compliance with the Rules of Court, Sheriffs and Civil Process Act .

The defendant also asked the court to dismiss the suit for lack of endorsement on the summons served on the firm outside Borno.

The court on its part struck out the preliminary objection for lacking in merit and the case proceeded for hearing.

The defendant, however, did not file its defense after its preliminary objection was dismissed.

The court therefore held “where an adversary fails to adduce evidence to put on the other side of the imaginary scale of justice, minimal evidence adduced by the other side will suffice to prove his case”.

The court declared that the claimant was entitled to be paid his salaries for the months of Feb. to Dec. 2018 totaling the sum of N4.4 million and the sum of N599,048 being the unremitted monthly deductions made by the Airline from his salaries from the months of May 2016 to Dec. 2018.

Source – NAN