A former store manager with Carrefour supermarket has sued owners of the retailer accusing them of wrongful dismissal and accessing his data against the law. The local Carrefour franchise is owned by Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets Limited whose parent firm is Dubai-based.
Mr Peter Nyingi Waweru was summarily dismissed in March this year over accusations of receiving Sh50,000 from one of the suppliers. The retail chain allegedly investigated claims of unfair awarding of tenders to suppliers by staff in an attempt to defraud owners.
Mr Waweru, who managed the supermarket’s Westgate branch, says he was never informed of the existence of criminal investigations to justify the violation of his rights to privacy and processing of his personal data.
The manager said he was employed as a section manager in January 2016, earning a salary of Sh152,170 and was later promoted to become the store manager. He was suspended on January 18, this year for 14 days to allow for investigations for an alleged breach of the company’s ethics.
Mr Waweru says he was summoned on January 22 by the country HR manager and was accused of contravening the company’s policies. He was then given a show cause letter accusing him of receiving Sh50,000 on October 9, 2021, from one of the supermarket's suppliers.
Through his lawyer Donald Kipkorir, the former manager says he was not given sufficient time to prepare for his response and he was never supplied with the evidence, investigation report and a signed copy of the code of ethics among other documents, so that he could prepare for his defence.
Mr Waweru says the company held a meeting on March 5 this year where he was given new evidence allegedly conducted by Parklands police. The evidence, he says, was presented in an affidavit from an investigator alleging unfair awarding of tenders to suppliers. Mr Waweru was summarily dismissed on March 10.
Mr Kipkorir accuses the former employer of breaching his client’s right to privacy, which entitles him to be informed before any information relating to his personal affairs is sought.
“That despite my numerous requests, the respondent has failed to provide me with a criminal case number, OB number or any other particulars indicating the existence of a criminal investigation or proceedings to justify the violation of my privacy by processing my personal data,” he said in a sworn statement.
