Ruling for Telikom to pay compo reversed

By GIDEON KINDIWA
The Waigani Supreme Court has quashed a National Court decision that ordered Telikom PNG Ltd to pay K10,000 each to 14 former employees for breach of contract.
Justice Derek Hartshorn upheld Telikom’s application to review then Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika’s decision in 2015.
Hartshorn ruled that Sir Gibbs made fundamental errors by awarding the payments as the employees were casual workers and Telikom had already paid their entitlements which they accepted.
The 14 respondents were employed as security guards by Post and Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) and were terminated through retrenchment when PTC was incorporated into PNG Telecommunication Authority (Pangtel), Post PNG Ltd and Telikom.
Sir Gibbs initially dismissed the claims by the respondents but later found out that they were not paid their full entitlements under the redundancy agreement and ordered for their payments.
Hartshorn considered that the outstanding amounts Sir Gibbs awarded to the respondents was based on an affidavit by Owen Boku, who was not known if he were an employee. He said the payments they accepted settled all their claims.