Business
Blow To Safaricom Employee Who Was Diagnosed With Acoustic Disorder
Ex-Safaricom employee Timothy Oluoch Deya who sued the telecommunications company for forcing him to resign out of hostile working environment has been dealt a blow by the High Court who ruled that Safaricom didn’t create the harsh environment after he failed to give evidence.
The ex-Safaricom worker had sued for Sh1.09 million in salary in lieu of notice (of termination) and one year’s pay as compensation for unfair termination.
Mr Deya resigned from Safaricom on September 28, 2016, on medical grounds, as he had contracted several complications from his initial deployment to the customer experience department.
Deya told court that his employer created a hostile environment for him in order to coerce him into forceful resignation. His claim was based on the labour principle of constructive dismissal, in which an employer uses underhand tactics to force its worker to resign to avoid terminating the contract.
Mr Deya claimed that he was constantly harassed when on sick off and that the redeployment offered was not genuine.
He joined Safaricom in 2010 as a part timer but was offered a permanent and pensionable position in 2014.
In 2015 he was diagnosed with acoustic shock disorder, a condition that has affected hundreds of Safaricom customer care agents, and carpal tunnel syndrome which Mr Deya argued was triggered by typing as part of his regular duties.
He was also diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome type 1 on his left hand.
Mr Deya said in court papers that after being diagnosed with acoustic shock disorder, the clinic sent his medical report to Safaricom’s human resource department, which refused to share the document with him.
Acoustic shock disorder (ASD) is described as an involuntary response to a sound perceived as traumatic (usually a sudden, unexpected loud sound heard near the ear) which causes a specific and consistent pattern of neurophysiological and psychological symptoms.
These include aural pain/fullness, tinnitus, hyperacusis, muffled hearing, vertigo and other unusual symptoms such as numbness or burning sensations around the ear.
The condition widely affected a section of Safaricom employees who were reportedly illegally laid off. The affected former employees took the firm to court and cases settled out of court. According to blog posts, condition came about from Safaricom procuring sub-standard headphones for call-center employees.
Kenya Insights allows guest blogging, if you want to be published on Kenya’s most authoritative and accurate blog, have an expose, news TIPS, story angles, human interest stories, drop us an email on [email protected] or via Telegram
The President’s Helicopter: How Ruto’s Aviation Empire Lands a Historic Airbus Milestone While His Government Writes the Tax Code
“TikTok Who? YouTube Sorry. A Kenyan-Built Platform Just Dropped—and 20 African Ministers Showed Up To Launch It.”
Kenyan Kennedy Mugambi Dragged into South Sudan Oil Heist
Denial Under Duress: The Untold Collapse Threatening David Lagat’s DL Group’s Empire
Stung By West Africa Rejections, France Courts Rest Of Continent at Kenya Summit
THE INSURER THAT TOOK YOUR PREMIUM AND FORGOT YOUR NAME: How ICEA Lion Left a Client Begging for Sh7.8 Million Across Four Months
Safaricom’s Sh1.4 Billion Reckoning: How Kenya’s Most Profitable Company Stole a Man’s Idea and Got Caught
Bush Air Safaris Founder John Ndiritu Risks Losing Property Over Disputed Loan Claim
Bia Tosha’s Claim For Injunction Is Designed To Sabotage The Sh300bn Sale of EABL Shares
KDC Accelerates the Creative Economy, Innovation and Youth-Led Enterprise Growth at Africa Forward Summit
How Did a Sh468K KRA Salary Allegedly Turn Into Sh30 Billion? Questions Deepen Over Commissioner George Obel and Ciala Resort Owner’s Wealth
Nairobi Freezes Binance Accounts in Sweeping Anti-Fraud Crackdown as Global Scandal Record Haunts World’s Largest Crypto Exchange
The Man Behind the Badge: How Prof. Erastus Kanga Turned Kenya’s Premier Wildlife Agency into a Theatre of Corruption, Fear and Impunity
THE UNTOUCHABLE CLERK: How Fatuma Mwalupa Allegedly Turned Kwale Assembly Into a Personal Treasury and Outsmarted Scrutiny
THE BRAZEN RETURN: Triton Thief Yagnesh Devani, Who Pillaged Kenya of Sh7.6 Billion and Fled, Now Asks the Same Courts He Escaped to Restore His Stolen Wealth
Green Gold, Rotten Roots: How Kenya’s Biggest Avocado Firms Hijacked a Sh5.8 Billion Harvest Ban
Kenyan Motorists Stare At Possible Engine Damage And Heavy Losses As Report Confirms Substandard Fuel In Circulation
TotalEnergies Moves to Sue TikToker for Sh10 Million Over Contaminated Fuel Claim as Kenya’s Petroleum Sector Burns
Why the April 21 Flopped Protests Expose Kenya’s Rudderless Opposition
KETRACO CEO Advert Marred By Controversies As Fears Grow That Kipkemoi Kibias Is A Predetermined Candidate
-
Investigations2 weeks agoHow Did a Sh468K KRA Salary Allegedly Turn Into Sh30 Billion? Questions Deepen Over Commissioner George Obel and Ciala Resort Owner’s Wealth
-
Business2 weeks agoGreen Gold, Rotten Roots: How Kenya’s Biggest Avocado Firms Hijacked a Sh5.8 Billion Harvest Ban
-
Africa1 week agoThe $24 Million Heist at the End of the World
-
Investigations2 weeks agoSerial Scammers Strike Again: How Kelvin ‘Sonko’ Onyango and Seth Steve Okute Built a Gold Fraud Empire on Kenya’s Reputation
-
Business2 weeks agoHigh Court to Set the Record Straight in Long-Running Bia Tosha Petition
-
Investigations2 weeks agoThe Greek Heist: How Inform Lykos Allegedly Robbed Kenyan Taxpayers of Sh650 Million While Printing the Nation’s Exams and Ballots
-
Investigations1 week agoThe Judge, The Disgraced Magistrate, The Auctioneer-Husband, The Fixer And The Lawyer: Anatomy Of A Sh16 Million Judicial Bribery Racket
-
Business2 weeks agoFly 748 Returns to Kenya’s Skies With Fresh Push for Affordable Coastal Travel