Boyfriends & girlfriends can work in the same office without sanctions and employers should not stifle love relationships —Court rules

A High Court in Kenya has held that romantic relationships at the workplace must be left to run their own natural course.

Hon Justice James Rika, in his ruling, said love should not be stifled by corporate policies, adding that it is not the duty of an employer to monitor the affairs of the heart of its employees.

“Nothing is more degrading than for a third party, an Employer, to intermeddle in a love relationship between two consenting adult Employees,” he said.

He made the findings in a case in which a former employee of G4S, a leading global integrated security company, challenged his termination after allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a junior employee. He termed his termination unfair.

At the time, Mark Ngugi was the regional operations manager at G4S, a position he held until December 2020 and he used to earn Sh270,400.

He held this position, until December 2, 2020 when G4s unfairly and unlawfully terminated his contract.

He told the court that on November 13, 2020, his employer issued him with a letter to show cause why, disciplinary action should not be taken against him.

He was alleged to have influenced irregular transfer of a guard, Anne Mukami who was his junior, to a different assignment.

He was also accused of making sexual advances towards her and engaging in borrowing and lending of money with her.

Ngugi admitted to having a sexual relationship with Mukami.

Mukami also did not dispute it, but she was also let go after lying to the company that Ngugi had made her pregnant and declined to offer her child support.

A DNA test was conducted and it proved that the child Mukami sired was not Ngugi’s.

Ngugi also said he was not in a position to influence her transfer as alleged to, which the Judge agreed there was no evidence to support the same.

Even though the company’s clause 14 on Sexual Harassment Policy suggests that sexual relationship is prohibited, the Judge said the same violates lovers right to privacy.

He said love could thrive even in the most unexpected places and that policies that seek to stop romance at the workplace are not legally defensible.

“In progressive jurisdiction, the courts have intervened in favor of protecting workplace romance, so long as it does not affect work performance,” said the Judge.

Employers he explained ought to be cautious about interfering in workplace romance, as the same may amount to invasion of privacy rights of their employees.

In Ngugi’s case, the Judge said there was no valid reason shown by the company to justify his termination and awarded him Sh3.2 million as compensation for unfair termination.

“It is declared that termination was unfair, for lack of valid reason. The Claimant is granted compensation for unfair termination, equivalent of 12 months’ salary, at Sh3,244,800.

“In the view of the Court, there was evidence of sexual relationship between the two but no convincing evidence, that the sexual relationship, morphed into sexual harassment,” he said.

Justice Rika who said employers should let love blossom as workplace romance may even strengthen the Employer’s business cited Bill and Melinda Gates who met at the Microsoft workplace and together rebuilt the globally renowned Microsoft brand where Bill was the CEO and Melinda an employee.