Mukumu Girls Staff Fired Over Food Poisoning Sues School
Mukumu Girls High School fired a store clerk for allegedly accepting contaminated cereals that killed three students and a teacher, and the employee has since filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the institution.
Chrisantus Mulimi, who was fired on June 28, 2023, was hired as a store clerk by the school on October 7, 2017.
He has named Jane Mmbone, the school principal, as the respondent in her capacity as secretary of the school board of management.
He wants the court to rule that his alleged dismissal from the school was unprocedural, arbitrary, punitive, and illegal.
In documents lodged with the Kakamega chief magistrate’s court on Monday, Mulimi requests that the court issue an order compelling the school to reinstate him and award him damages against the institution for unlawfully dismissing him and subjecting him to unwarranted pain and suffering.
Alternately, Mulimi requests that the court issue an order compelling the school to pay him any terminal and other benefits accrued up to the date of his termination.
In the memorandum of the claim, Mulimi stated that he obtained a show cause letter from the school administration on June 2 based on fallacies and innuendos in an attempt to conceal a matter that was already in the public domain.
Mulimi stated that the school’s wrongful conduct in terminating his employment was motivated by malice, constituting victimization and unfair labor practices.
These actions have subjected him to career-related stress, mental distress, emotional suffering, humiliation, financial setbacks, and subsequent damages
In the show-cause letter lodged with the court, Mulimi was accused of disobedience, neglect of duty, arrogance, and fraud.
The letter states, “On April 24, 2023, in your capacity as a member and secretary of the tender evaluation committee, you did not collaborate effectively with the inspection and tender acceptance committee to ensure the supplied cereals met the required quality standards for the school.
Consequently, this resulted in a financial loss for the school as the cereals had to be declared unsuitable and subsequently destroyed.”
“Your indecisiveness and inability to perform your designated duties had led to acceptance of substandard goods in the stores. This had led to the medical and health concerns experienced at the school.”
The letter states that Mulimi admitted in his written submission to the directorate of quality assurance on May 11, 2023, that the food he received in the stores was unsuitable for human consumption, yet he issued a certificate of acceptance stating that the food met the required specifications.
Mukumu Girls Staff Fired Over Food Poisoning Sues School