The High Court in Kenya's capital Nairobi has reportedly ordered Safaricom to pay KSh 6 million (GHS 329,444) to the blind man after it refused him employment due to his disability.
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Court orders telco to pay 6 million to blind man for denying him job as customer care executive
A visually impaired man who sued a telecommunication company for failing to employ him as a customer care executive despite passing the interview has won a huge compensation.
Court orders telco to pay 6 million to blind man for denying him job as customer care executive
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According to Tuko.co.ke, the plaintiff, Wilson Macharia sued the giant telecommunications company over what he termed as a breach of his rights.
The news website reported him as saying that Safaricom denied him the job simply because the company did not have the software to help him work efficiently.
Macharia said that he was invited to sign the contract after passing the interview but was denied the job even after asking to use his personal laptop.
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Meanwhile, the telco, in defending itself against the lawsuit admitted that it gave the plaintiff an opportunity for an interview.
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The high court presided over by Justice Makau agreed with the petitioner that Safaricom treated him unfairly. It described the basis on which the telco denied Macharia the job he duly earned as an afterthought.
“I find that the respondent’s (Safaricom’s) excuse to be an afterthought that was introduced late to the detriment of the petitioner. The respondent knew right from the beginning that the petitioner’s work called for software, yet they took him through all recruitment steps,” the judge said in his ruling.
Reports say Macharia had applied for the customer care executive position in August 2016 after Safaricom advertised it.
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According to the advert, all qualified Kenyans could apply for the job regardless of “race, colour, religion, gender, tribal origin, disability or age”.
Tuko.co.ke’s report said Macharia and other persons living with disabilities were among the shortlisted candidates who went through a thorough interview process and he passed.
However, when he was invited to sign his employment contract in July 2017, Safaricom rejected him, saying the invitation to him to sign the employment contract was an error.
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