A security guard has been dismissed allegedly for insisting that a minister undergo security check at the airport. The minister was said to be trying to catch a local flight.
The female security guard has now sued her employer, saying her dismissal was uncalled for, as she was only doing her job.
The Kenyan woman, Daisy Cherogony, is reported to have insisted that Education Minister, Fred Matiang’i, queue and undergo security checks like other passengers in an incident on April 6.
Her employer, Kenya’s Airport Authority, dismissed her on May 11 on grounds of “gross misconduct for mistreating and humiliating” the minister.
In her court documents filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court, Cherogony says she was accused of making a mistake that does not exist and was victimised and discriminated against by KAA.
She says that according to the airport security manual, government ministers do not qualify for any preferential treatment unless they have special passes.
Cherogony said the minister, accompanied by an airport police inspector and his security team, had tried to force their way instead of waiting in line like other passengers.
“Matiang’i did not want to follow the queue but wanted special treatment despite the fact that it was raining and people were complaining,” Cherogony said.
She now wants the court to declare her termination unfair and to award her $23,000 for wrongful dismissal.
She accuses KAA of frustrating her efforts to claim her job benefits.
The airport authority body has 15 days to respond to the suit, Standard newspapers says.
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