MEDICAL RETIREMENT ROW! Kabojja School Ordered to Pay Former Teacher Shs26.6m… Court Says Employer Ignored Her Health Plight
The Industrial Court in Kampala has ordered Kabojja Junior School Limited to pay a former teacher, Jean Joan Kashanku 26.6 million shillings in severance pay and general damages after ruling that she was forced to leave employment due to medical incapacity.
In a decision delivered on Friday, Justice Anthony Wabwire Musana, sitting with panelists Can Amos Lapenga, Emmanuel Bigirimana and Dr Oling Dawn Kerjew, ruled that Kashanku was entitled to statutory severance pay after establishing that her deteriorating health made it difficult for her to continue performing her teaching duties.
The court awarded Kashanku Shillings 15.2 million as severance pay for 16 completed years of service and Shillings 11.4 million in general damages for the inconvenience, mental anguish and psychological distress arising from the school’s refusal to pay her terminal benefits.
However, the court declined to award exemplary damages and ordered each party to meet its own legal costs.
Court records indicate that Kashanku joined Kabojja Junior School as a subject teacher on February 10, 2004, before being appointed a class teacher in June of the same year. She earned a monthly basic salary of Shillings 950,000, in addition to housing, transport, special duty and education allowances.
She submitted a letter on June 25, 2020, communicating her immediate retirement on medical grounds after experiencing chronic back pain and numbness in her hands.
Kashanku told the court that her condition developed in 2018 and progressively worsened due to the physical demands of teaching, including prolonged standing, bending, writing on chalkboards, marking examinations and preparing lessons.
She argued that the condition eventually affected her ability to hold objects and perform routine teaching responsibilities.
According to her testimony, she had informed the school’s management about her medical challenges and was provided with a different chair and permission to attend physiotherapy sessions.
However, the school, in a letter dated July 1, 2020, accepted her retirement but rejected her demand for severance pay and other terminal benefits, arguing that she had not provided sufficient medical evidence before leaving employment.
The school also maintained that her employment contract required three weeks’ written notice or payment in lieu of notice and did not expressly provide for retirement benefits.
The dispute subsequently ended up before the Industrial Court following the school’s refusal to pay the claimed benefits.
In its defence, Kabojja Junior School challenged the medical report presented by Kashanku, arguing that it had been authored by Fulgensio Mukwaya, who it alleged was not registered or licensed as a medical practitioner under the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council.
The school was represented by Lawyers Isaac Bakayana and Juma Omollo from Acardia Advocates while Counsel Stanley Okecho of Gem Advocates represented Kashanku, the claimant.
The school through its lawyers further argued that Mukwaya had recommended that Kashanku be relieved of routine duties to facilitate recovery, rather than permanently retire, and that she had not explored the possibility of performing alternative duties.
However, the court rejected the school’s argument that the medical report was legally invalid simply because its author was not a medical doctor.
Justice Musana observed that evidence presented before court showed that Mukwaya was registered with the Allied Health Professionals Council as a Medical Clinical Officer and held a valid practising licence for 2020.
The court explained that the Allied Health Professionals Act recognises clinical officers and permits them to provide specified healthcare services within their authorised scope of practice, including issuing relevant clinical assessments and certificates.
The judge further ruled that physical incapacity under Section 86(c) of the Employment Act does not require an employee to be bedridden or completely unable to function.
Rather, an employee qualifies where a medically demonstrable physical condition makes it impossible to perform essential duties without severe pain or risking permanent physical impairment.
The court was satisfied that Kashanku had established, on a balance of probabilities, that her medical condition compelled her to leave employment to protect her health.
It also faulted the school for failing to arrange an independent medical examination or seek verification from her healthcare provider before rejecting her claim.
Justice Musana noted that an employer faced with doubts about an employee’s medical condition should take reasonable steps to establish the extent of the incapacity instead of simply dismissing the medical evidence presented.
On severance pay, the court relied on Section 86(c) of the Employment Act, which provides for severance where an employee terminates an employment contract because of physical incapacity not caused by their own serious and wilful misconduct.
Applying the established formula of one month’s basic salary for every completed year of service, the court calculated Kashanku’s entitlement at Shillings 15.2 million, representing 16 years of employment.
The court also awarded her Shillings 11.4 million in general damages, equivalent to 12 months of her basic salary, taking into consideration her age, length of service, medical condition and limited prospects of securing alternative employment.
However, the court dismissed her claim for exemplary damages, ruling that the school’s conduct did not meet the threshold of being malicious, oppressive, vindictive or high-handed.
The court also declined to award legal costs and directed both parties to bear their respective expenses.
The decision has now brought to an an end Labour Dispute Reference No. 194 of 2021, arising from a complaint initially lodged before the Kampala Capital City Authority Labour Office.
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