Telecommunications Company Safaricom PLC has been ordered by Justice James Riaka of the Employment and Labour Relations Court, to compensate a former customer care employee Sh. 2.5 million.
Ms Eva Kathambi Bessy had been speaking to customers on the line for a long time until her vocal cords stopped working, eventually causing her to lose her voice.
She was hired by Safaricom on May 25, 2008 when she was 26 and had her contract terminated in 2012. She decided to sue Safaricom in 2013 and allegedly, the court file went missing.
The case was reconstructed in 2021 and brought forward. Ms. Kathambi told the court that she served diligently until she was diagnosed with functional dysphonia (vocal cord paralysis).
“She lost her voice. She was operated for thymus swelling in March 2011, but her voice did not improve. She had repeated throat endoscopy,” the judge wrote in his Pleadings Summary.
At the time of diagnosis, Safaricom’s doctors recommended that Eva Kathambi should get a sick leave and later on, work a different role from the call centre. Upon her return, she was moved to the SMS centre.
Aged 31 years on October 9, 2012, Kathambi had her contract terminated and retired on medical grounds. Prior to the termination, the lady had a Q&A session with late Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore. She wrote her answers on paper.
Additionally, she was required to sign a letter dated October 5, 2012, that would exonerate Safaricom from liability. She refused to sign it.
By 2015, Eva Kathambi had already been through 17 endoscopies, most of which were self-funded. She had been through numerous voice therapy sessions. Safaricom only paid for 4 then ceased payment without reason.
Eva Kathambi further told the court that it has not been easy to secure employment since then, as prospective employers are worried about her condition.
In defence, Safaricom argued that they did not expose Ms Kathambi to any injury risks that were known or reasonably foreseeable. They also denied subjecting Ms Kathambi to long hours while receiving calls.
“The control on the use of voice, in terms of audibility, is exclusively within the user’s prerogative,” said Safaricom in defence.
How to access Safaricom interest-free loans of up to Sh. 100,000
Eva Kathambi told the court that the loss of her voice was a tortuous experience.
“She endured social intolerance. People would comment that she is a beauty who could not talk. She was car-jacked and could not scream,” the judge wrote in his summary.
“She was studying at the university and a very unkind and uncultured lecturer would ask other students ‘to assist that mute’…she suffered mental anguish,” he went on.
Justice James Riaka saw enough reason to award Ms Kathambi Sh. 2.5 million in general damages. The award will also accrue interest at the court’s rates until the payment is done.