House help who was forced to watch couple make love awarded Sh1.27m
A Mombasa house help has been awarded
Ksh 1.27 Million by an Industrial court after her employer terminated her
employment after she rejected his sexual advance Industrial Court Judge James
Rika directed the domestic worker’s former employer to pay the amount within 30
days.
During court proceedings, the house
help recounted how her German employer patted her behind as she cleaned and
took video pictures of her during “forced” shower time.
He made pornographic films with the
pictures, according to the lady’s testimony.
That is not all. The German also
demanded that she watches pornographic movies and have sex with him,
threatening to sack her if she refused.
The house
help added that the employer would ask her to deliver coffee to his bedroom, and
when she went to retrieve the empty cup, she would find him naked and having
covered his manhood with the cup.
And in a
bizarre revelation, the domestic worker was further required to watch her
employer making love to his wife so that she could learn the art and do it when
the wife was away.
The court
used initials to protect the identities of the parties involved.
The
foreigner, who has lived in the country for five years, was said to have been
using abusive words towards the house help.
He also
called her a stupid monkey as well as telling her that Africans over-eat and
she had become fat.
The court
heard that the employer would touch the worker’s breasts asking if she had
become pregnant and command her to bathe before entering the house.
The ruling
issued on June 19 2015 read in part; “The Respondent shall, within 30 days of
the delivery of this award pay to the claimant Sh1,200,000 in general damages
for sexual harassment; 6 months’ salary in compensation for unfair termination
at Sh60,000; and 1 month salary in notice pay at Sh 10,000 – total
Sh1,270,000.”
NINE
MONTHS EMPLOYMENT
The house
help had worked for her employer for nine months (from September 2012 to May
2013) when her employment was unlawfully terminated.
She
approached the county labour office the same month and the office wrote a
letter to her employer to pay her arrears but he did not comply.
She later
reported her employer’s sexual assault to the police and her employer was
arrested and charged.
The house
help filed her first statement on the matter in December 2013 and the employer
responded in February 2014 claiming that he had never employed her though later
in court he admitted to knowing her.
The employer
told the court that the house help quit employment when she was asked to
explain the waste of food. He failed to respond to the sexual assault claims.
His witness
and partner,who testified before the court admitted, to knowing and loving him
but told the court she would not lie for him.
After the
court hearing was concluded, Judge Rika further ordered the employer to issue a
Certificate of Service to the house help in accordance to the Employment Act
2007 as she had worked for him consecutively for over four weeks.
SOURCE: Nairobi News
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