FRANK ODURO v. GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS GROUP LIMITED
2015
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- M. AGYEMANG (MRS), JA
Areas of Law
- Employment Law
- Civil Procedure
2015
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The court ruled on an application for a stay of execution following a High Court judgment in favor of a wrongfully dismissed employee. The applicant argued that the judgment was flawed and sought to stay execution pending appeal. The court found that the High Court's conditional stay, which required partial payment and investment of funds, was fair and reasonable. The court upheld this decision, balancing the interests of both parties and determining that no exceptional circumstances warranted altering the original terms.
R U L I N G
M. AGYEMANG (MRS) J.A.:-
This is a ruling in respect of an application to stay execution of the judgment of the High Court delivered on 11th June 2015. The application is supported by an eighteen-paragraph affidavit sworn to by counsel for the defendant/appellant/applicant (applicant) who deposed that he had the consent of the applicant to depose to matters within his knowledge and belief as counsel.
The application follows the grant upon terms of a similar application at the court below. The terms of the said grant were the following: that fifty percent of the sum due the respondent per the judgment be paid by the applicant to the respondent and that the remaining fifty percent be (paid into court and) invested in Government bonds.
Dissatisfied with this ruling which per the applicant amounts to a refusal of their prayer, the present repeat application has been brought.
The matters on which the application is grounded are the following:
The respondent was an employee of the applicant who held the position of General Manager, Marketing and Public Affairs (now Director of Marketing) of the applicant.
In an investigation involving an alleged breach of duty following an alleged fraudulent transaction, the respondent was invited to a disciplinary hearing. Following the findings of the committee set up for this purpose, the Board of the applicant dismissed the respondent. The respondent as plaintiff, sued out a writ of summons seeking inter alia, damages for wrongful dismissal. The trial high court having heard the parties, entered judgment for the respondent for the recovery of the sum of GHC23,507.27 with interest at the prevailing bank rate as well as the payment of two years’ net salary in damages, salaries, allowances, bonuses and other entitlements.
It is contended on behalf of the applicant that there are contentious legal issues that remain to be determined in the appeal before this court which speak to the success of the appeal. Some of these issues relate to the fact that although the learned trial judge found that the respondent was negligent and dishonest, she nevertheless found for respondent after proclaiming that providence had come to his rescue. Taking issue with this, learned counsel contends that a judgment of a court must be based on law as supported by facts and not on ecclesiastical considerations suggested by the use of the word “providence”.
Another such legal issue is the contention that the judgment of the court be