Teacher wins lawsuit against school that sacked him for sending pØrn to senior staff members

The Employment and Labour Relations court in Kenya has ruled in favor of a teacher, Apollo Amanya, who was terminated by Riara Group of Schools for allegedly emailing pØrnographic content to senior staff members.

Amanya, who was hired on June 10, 2019, was fired on March 18, 2021, for violating the school’s e-learning policy. He filed a lawsuit against the school for unfair dismissal.

During the trial, the school claimed that Amanya sent unsolicited pornographic material to several senior staff members between February 24 and 25, 2021, which was in violation of the school’s e-learning guidelines.

However, Amanya argued that his email was hacked and he reported the matter to the police after learning about the intrusion.

He also claimed that someone other than him must have been responsible for the circulation of the images from the school’s ICT lab.

The court ruled that Amanya was guilty of circulating obscene images, but the process of his dismissal was unfair.

The judge stated that the school failed to provide a fair hearing to the teacher before terminating his job, even though the school had a valid reason for doing so.

The judge awarded Amanya Ksh 110,000, equivalent to his salary for two months, as compensation for wrongful termination.