A total of 116 United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc ex-employees, whose appointments were allegedly illegally terminated early this year, have dragged the bank before the Lagos Division of National Industrial Court.
The bank ex-workers are praying the court, to award a cost of N2.015 billion against the bank for its action.
They also want the court to compel the bank to pay their salaries from the date of ‘constructive’ dismissal to the date of judgment.
They are also praying the court to declare that the bank is liable for wrongful termination of their employment.
The former bankers also want the court to declare that the personal loans given to them by UBA Plc between August and December 2019 were unconscionable, oppressive and against all known tenets of corporate decency.
They are also seeking an order, cancelling the loans or alternatively, ordering UBA Plc to apply insurance proceeds to the payment of the outstanding loans and updating their terminal benefits accordingly.
The ex-bankers in the suit marked NICN/La/112/2020 against UBA Plc include: Adams Halimat Atta, Adedamola Olayemi Daramola, Adedeji Olubukola Adesola, Adedeji Oladipupo Soliu, Adeleke Anota Adeola, Adenike Bankole, Adenola Sunday Dare, Adeoti Adewale Wasiu, Adewole Kehinde Oluwadere, Adewale Opeyemi, Adiabokpa Godfrey and Adisa Ademola Khabir.
Others include Ajayi Samuel Jaiyeola, Afolayan Oluwakemi M, Agbana Oluwakemi Deborah, Agbo Chinyere Maureen, Agbede Oluwakemi Toyin Fawehinmi, Adewole Ajibike Olusola; Adeniran Adeyinka Ajoke Nee Daniel, Akingbade Olufemi John, Akinyemi Lawal, Alabi Olajide Abiodun, Alake Dorcas Jumoke, Alice Bako, Anieze Ifeoma Pauline, Anyaogu Patience Akunna, Arundu Hope, Atafo Oziegbe Godwin; Azeez Ayokunle Temitayo and Azubuike Opone Ufuoma.
The claimants also include Azuh Ngozi Jovita, Badmus Idris Bambo, Balogun Sunday Emmanuel; Bamgbose Sumbo, Bayode Ajayi Austine, Bose Imarughe, Bosunde Olufemi Olusegun, Cecilia Wilson Ochenje, Charity Ijeoma Onyekwere, Chinyere Ezekwu and 76 others.
The claimants in the statement of material facts filed before the court through their lawyer, Mr Elvis E Asia, claimed that they were staff of UBA Plc until they were constructively dismissed on January 3, 2020, along with many others. And that between January 3 and 6, 2020, UBA Plc invited them to a series of meetings at their various branches and asked them to resign immediately. And that they were further told that resignation was a condition precedent to being paid their terminal benefits.
The claimants averred that it was after writing the resignation letters that they discovered that they were already exited from the bank before they were asked to resign, as they were denied access to the bank’s portal from the end of January 3, 2020, and the exit letters from the bank was received from January 14, 2020, but backdated to January 3, 2020.
They averred that the bank perfected the mass sack before surreptitiously compelling them to resign in order to deny many of them their terminal benefits through loans availed them few weeks before the sack. They added that by the terms of the loan, repayment was insured in the event of involuntary loss of the job. The desperation to get the claimant to resign was deliberately to deny them the benefit of the insurance and their benefits.
The claimants also averred that they were paid meagre benefits and were debited with the outstanding loans which ought to have been taken care of by insurance being that their employment was not brought to an end voluntarily. They further stated that during the course of their employment, they were subjected to discriminatory and unfair labour practices by the defendant.
They averred that the bank perfected the mass sack before surreptitiously compelling them to resign in order to deny many of them their terminal benefits through loans availed them few weeks before the sack. They also added that by the terms of the loan, repayment was insured in the event of involuntary loss of the job. The desperation to get the claimant to resign was deliberately to deny them the benefit of the insurance and their benefits.
UBA Plc is yet to file any processes against the claimants’ suit and no date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.
