A former teller at the Cooperative Bank of Kenya could smile all the way to the bank after a court ordered her former employer to pay her a sum of Sh508,876 in salaries after finding her dismissal ten years ago illegal.

Ruth Njeri Mburu was summarily dismissed from work on allegations of theft and failure to account for Sh500,000.

Employment and Labour Relations Court’s Justice Jacob Gakeri ruled Ruth’s dismissal was unfair and awarded her the sum of Sh508,876 including the cost of her suit.

Gakeri opined that Ruth’s summary dismissal did not meet the threshold as prescribed in the Employment Act.

The court also established that no evidence was available to show that Ruth was issued with a notice to show cause, nor was there any evidence that she was invited for a disciplinary hearing.

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However, she was dismissed in October 2012 when she was on suspension.

Gakeri said Ruth’s former employer should have called her to confirm if she had received the show cause letter, and proceeding to issue her with a dismissal letter before confirming her receipt of the letter was unfair.

“The bank should have telephoned Ms Mburu to ascertain whether she had received the letter. Proceeding with the dismissal before confirmation that she had in fact received the show cause letter was unfair,” Gakeri said.

Ruth, who was then working as a teller, was charged in court for theft after she had a cash shortage of Sh500,000 at her station and failed to balance her account.

She reported the matter to her superiors as expected of her, but the lost amount was never recovered.

The bank, which held that Ruth’s employment was trust-and-integrity-based, reported the matter to the Anti-Bank Fraud Unit of the Kenya Police.