A plumber is smiling all the way to the bank after the court on Friday ordered President Uhuru Kenyatta-linked firm, Brookside Dairies Ltd to pay him Sh1.6 million for using his photograph without his consent.
The complainant, David Gicheru, decided to move to court and sued the firm after his photos were used on their calendars without his consent. Gicheru had also sued Gicheha Farm after he was reportedly photographed without his approval.
The firm went ahead and used the images on their 2018 calendars, a move that did not augur well with him forcing him to seek legal redress at the end of the day.
While delivering his judgement on the matter, Justice Hellen Wasilwa said that the firm infringed on the rights of the plumber. Wasilwa also said that the man deserved compensation after the firm decided to use his photos without his approval.
"There is no indication that he was paid for the use of his photo on the calendar," Justice Wasilwa.
Wasilwa said that the action of the company to use the image of an individual without his or her consent is a modern form slavery. The court also faulted the Gicheha Farm over the unfair dismissal of the plumber after he decided to take Brookside to court over the use of his image.