Court rules: No damages due from former employer

National, Normal

THE National Court in Waigani dismissed a matter by plaintiff Stanley Daiye seeking damages from his former employer, Associated Distributors and Steamships Ltd.
The court ruled that Daiye had been appropriately paid when he was terminated and would not receive any further payments in damages.
Justice Catherine Davani ruled: “I find the plaintiff has been paid in full. It follows that he will not receive anything else apart from what he has already received.”
In saying this, the judge, while dismissing the entire matter, also ruled that the plaintiff must pay the costs of the hearing in relation to the assessment of damages.
The matter arose when the plaintiff accused his employers of wrongful dismissal.
Daiye said at the time of his employment he was the supervisor in the merchandise division of the Associated Distributors dispatch section in Gerehu and had been for 10 years.
He claimed he was wrongfully accused of having stolen ox and palm tinned meat from defendant’s warehouse and that it was because of those allegations he was then terminated on August 9, 2003.
On his termination, Daiye was paid a gross amount of K5,246.38. After deductions were made, the amount he received was  K2,525.27.
Justice Davani said: “The plaintiff says he was not made redundant but was terminated. He asserts that Steamships was wrong in doing so and that therefore, he should be compensated for that.”