Time flies with great content! Renew in to keep enjoying all our premium content.
Prime
Lying on CV about previous post costs bank manager her job
A bank manager who inflated her previous job title in her CV was lawfully dismissed, the court has ruled, underscoring the high premium placed on trust and disclosure in the financial sector.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court has upheld the dismissal of a bank manager fired for lying about her previous employment in her curriculum vitae (CV), ruling that the misrepresentation undermined trust in the banking industry and justified termination.
The court dismissed a Sh15.6 million claim by SA against her former employer, Bank of Africa Kenya Limited, arising from her dismissal in July 2015 for alleged unfair termination and career loss.
She was dismissed after the bank discovered that in her previous job she had served as a branch operations officer, but in her CV and interview claimed she was the operations manager.
SA filed the suit in 2016, arguing that she was fired without valid reason or a fair hearing, and that the dismissal ruined her career, exposed her to loan defaults and led to her listing with credit reference bureaus.
However, the court found that the bank had valid grounds and followed a fair process in terminating her employment.
“She procured a managerial position with the respondent (Bank of Africa Kenya Limited) through pretenses. There was a valid reason justifying termination of the claimant’s contract under Sections 43 and 45 of the Employment Act,” the court said.
At the time of her dismissal, SA was serving as a Branch Service Manager and earned a gross monthly salary of Sh162,750.
The dispute arose from discrepancies uncovered during routine staff record verification. The bank found that her CV listed her last role at Consolidated Bank Limited as branch operations manager, while her certificate of service showed she was an operations officer.
The court heard that although she had acted as operations manager for five months, she had reverted to the officer role months before applying for the job at Bank of Africa.
In its ruling, the court held that the distinction between the two roles was material.
“The respondent was looking for a manager. The claimant was an operations officer at the time she applied for the job,” the court said, noting that a manager holds a senior supervisory position with greater responsibility.
Her résumé submitted to Bank of Africa indicated that her last position with her previous employer was branch operations manager.
The court rejected her explanation that the discrepancy was a genuine mistake, finding that she presented herself as a manager during the interview and later signed a declaration confirming the accuracy of the information provided.
“Her explanation that she did not lie but made a genuine mistake is unacceptable in light of this voluntarily executed declaration,” the court ruled.
“The claimant was clearly in breach of her obligation of trust and confidence in an industry where these values are the cornerstones of an employer-employee relationship,” the judge added.
On the termination procedure, the court acknowledged shortcomings, including the absence of a formal show-cause letter and short notice for the initial disciplinary hearing.
However, it ruled that the defects were cured by a second hearing held more than a month later. “Any mischief occasioned… was cured by the second round of disciplinary hearing,” the court said.
Bank’s counterclaim
The court also addressed the bank’s Sh6.3 million counterclaim for unpaid loans. While it acknowledged SA’s outstanding debt, it rejected the amount claimed due to insufficient proof and the risk of breaching the in duplum rule. The principle prevents lenders from charging interest that exceeds the original principal loan once it becomes defaulted.
“A line must be drawn between legitimate banking and loan sharking,” the judge said, describing the claim as “usurious.”
The court ultimately dismissed both the claim and the counterclaim.
