RE-INSTATING A WRONGFULLY DISMISSED EMPLOYEE

Abstract

The readily available redress or remedy available to a wrongfully dismissed employee is the common law remedy of damages. The court has persistently shown their disfavour or dislike of reinstating a wrongfully dismissed employee where there is, in existence, a master-servant relationship between them. Some of the reasons the court has given for taken this stance ranges from difficulty of enforcing such an order to public policy consideration. Only in a few special circumstances or exceptional cases – for instance, those with statutory or legal flavour and recently, dismissal that is based on trade union victimisation - is the court ready and willing to reinstate a wrongfully dismissed employee. Using doctrinal research methodology, this research work set out to see some of those special circumstances that will tilt the court towards ordering the employer to reinstate such an employee. The researcher strongly belief that this equitable remedy is essential to workers as it helps to ensure the security of the employee’s employment as it stops arbitrary and nepotistic dismissal of an employee. Considering the level of tribalism and nepotism in Nigeria and the scarcity of employment in the country, this work recommends that this equitable remedy should be extended beyond hitherto contract of employment with legal or statutory flavour and, recently, master-servant employment relationship where dismissal is on account of trade union activities to cover also those in juicy employment and those who have put in many years into the job.