Court orders First Bank to pay N50m for wrongfully sacking, blacklisting ex-worker

The National Industrial Court in Owerri, Imo State, has awarded N50 million in punitive damages against First Bank Plc.

The bank was found guilty of wrongfully sacking and blacklisting a former employee, Collins Godspower.

Delivering judgment in suit No. NICN/YEN/125/2016, Justice Nelson Ogbuanya held that the bank acted maliciously and unfairly by forwarding Godspower’s name and biodata to the Central Bank of Nigeria as an ex-staff disengaged for fraud, despite terminating his employment on the ground that his “services were no longer required.”

The court not only set aside the employment ban placed on Godspower but also restrained First Bank from giving further effect to what it termed “career-damaging publications” against him.

Godspower had approached the National Industrial Court of Nigeria after discovering that his inability to secure another job in the banking sector stemmed from his alleged blacklisting. He told the court that although he was initially suspended over allegations relating to an unauthorised dollar purchase transaction, he was later recalled from suspension, an action he argued amounted to exoneration by law.

According to his counsel, G. C. Ihunwo, the claimant later found that First Bank had published his name and photograph on its internal portal and reported him to the CBN as a staff dismissed for fraud, leading to his effective exclusion from the financial services industry.

In its defence, First Bank, through its lawyer A. N. Ozornafor, admitted publishing Godspower’s details and transmitting them to the apex bank, arguing that it acted in compliance with the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) and a regulatory circular. The bank also challenged the jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court to hear the matter.

Justice Ogbuanya dismissed the objection, affirming that the court has jurisdiction over employment-related disputes, including workplace defamation.

He said, “From the record, I find that the subject matter of this dispute, bordering on workplace defamation and the manner of termination of employment, raises issues of unfair labour practice.”

The court faulted First Bank for sacking the claimant on one ground while portraying him to regulators as having been disengaged for fraud and dishonesty.

“The claimant’s grouse is not merely the termination of his employment, but the defendant’s overreaching acts of publishing his name and photograph and sending his name to the CBN for sanction without any indictment or disclosure in his termination letter,” Justice Ogbuanya held.

The judge said the bank’s actions had “tarnished his cherished career, rendered him jobless and traumatised,” and consequently awarded N50 million as general damages for unfair labour practice.