The news:
- A Kenyan court has revoked the February 2024 interim order that compelled Wasoko, a B2B eCommerce startup in a soon-to-be-concluded merger with Egypt’s MaxAB, to retain nine ex-employees on its payroll after laying them off in December 2023.
- The court ruled that the employees did not deserve the initial interim order because they withheld information critical to the case.
- According to the company's lawyers, even after Wasoko obeyed the court ruling and reinstated the employees, they did not resume work.
The lawyer also claimed that one of the nine employees was still employed by Wasoko when the court issued the order and participated in redundancy negotiations.
The court agreed with Wasoko's argument, stating that leaving them on the company's payroll would be unjust and could not be allowed to continue.
In its June 11, 2024, decision, the court said, “Before me are claimants who have since obtaining the orders declined to present themselves to work and in the case of one, taken steps to accede to the issue that brought them to court.”
The affected employees were reportedly dissatisfied with the ruling.
Reports indicate that the company permitted the employees to work from home occasionally. There are also allegations that they had limited access to work tools and were subjected to a hostile work environment, making it impossible to work from the office.
Following the new ruling, all parties to the lawsuit must prepare for a pre-trial hearing on the wrongful termination suit filed by the nine former employees.
In February 2024, Kenya’s Employment and Labour Relations Court prohibited Wasoko from laying off nine employees after they claimed the company began the layoff process in December 2023 while preparing to merge with MaxAB, a B2B eCommerce startup based in Egypt.
Wasoko insisted it followed due process in the layoffs, maintaining that the initial redundancy notices from December 2023 were valid.
However, the ex-employees claimed that none of the redundancy notices were delivered to the labour office for information and records, as required by the Employment Act.
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As the case continues, the Wasoko and MaxAB merger, which was supposed to close by April 2024, has stalled due to ongoing restructuring and macroeconomic challenges.
