A case befalling Choppies Supermarket will still proceed as planned after the court was unable to stop the legal action. The firm was sued by its employers after it issued them with redundancy letters.
An application halting the suit was thrown away by Kisumu Senior Principal Magistrate Robinson Ondieki. Through a statement during his ruling, Ondieki noted that "the matter will be continued on April 4, this year."
Through a Wednesday motion notice, the embattled firm sought to have the case withheld until that one is heard and determined. "The honourable court hereby pleases to have orders for the case to put aside, until hearing and determination of Nairobi ELRC CAUSE 861 of 2019," part of the application read.
The application was greatly opposed by the former employees via their lawyer Onyango who pointed out that as a delay and blockage of justice to the complainant. "This is a sort of delay mechanism, given that the accused was served with a notice on December 19, 2019. We ask that the suit continues without interruptions," Onyango told the court.
At least 543 employees sued the firm after they were issued with redundancy letters. The court required the accused to deposit at least 28.6 million as a surety amount owed to the complainant.
Magistrate Robinson Ondieki had earlier on urged the accused to place a deposit of Sh7 million instead of Sh12 million owed, given the present economic situation.