FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NAIROBI, KENYA, 28 April 2021
A Constitutional Petition in the Employment and Labour Relations Court seeking redress for the violation of a former employee’s constitutional rights and sexual harassment
On 28 April 2021, the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) and the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa have filed a petition for redress against RILEY SERVICES LTD to seek amends for violation of her Constitutional rights and sexual harassment.
Case background
In February 2018, a woman who was working as a security guard at Riley Security Services was sexually harassed by a senior manager in the building where she was assigned to guard. Riley Security Services was a service provider assigned to the Harambee Sacco Plaza. She reported the incident to the Head of Security in the building who advised her to report to her employer and the police. She reported the matter to the police who kept the matter pending under investigation. She further reported the incident to her employer who did not take any steps to provide amends for the violation she had endured. She was subsequently moved from her workplace, together with all the guards she was supervising, and was assigned administrative duties and her salary was reduced. Despite various pleas for redress, the employer only frustrated her and eventually asked her to leave employment.
Argument summary
A Constitutional Petition has been brought forward in the Employment and Labour Relations Court seeking redress for the violation of her rights. She seeks the horizontal application of her constitutional rights against her employer. Furthermore, the application seeks to expand the applicability of the law on sexual harassment to other persons within the employer’s control, even if not its employees. The petition seeks to ask the court to determine whether the employer and the alleged perpetrator failed to protect and uphold employee’s fundamental rights particularly, the right to equality and freedom from discrimination, right to human dignity, right to fair labour practices, and the right to fair administrative action.
“We believe that this case is not just about the violation of the client’s human rights but about the fiduciary responsibility of organisation’s to ensure the safety of their employees from sexual harassment from their clients”, said Advocate Beatrice Njeri
Case practice
The Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) is acting as advisors to counsel to the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) as part of the women’s economic and social rights programmatic intervention. CREAW is a national feminist women’s rights Non-Governmental Organization whose vision is to contribute to a just society where women and girls enjoy their full rights and live in dignity. Their mission is to champion, expand and actualize women’s and girls’ rights and social justice. In all proceedings, ISLA and CREAW will be represented by Advocate Beatrice Njeri who will be working with an alumnus of ISLA’s Feminist Litigation Network (FLN) Advocate Carolene Kituku. The case will be filed on Wednesday, 28 April 2021 in the Court of Kenya at the Nairobi Milimani Law Courts.
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Join the conversation on social media by following:
Twitter: @ISLAfrica @CREAWKENYA
Facebook: @ISLAfrica @CREAWKENYA
Hashtag: #Sitanyamazishwa #WhoProtectsUs
For further enquiries kindly contact:
Beatrice Njeri
Tel: +254 720 230 206
Email: njeri@creawkenya.org
Carolene Kituku
Counsel for ISLA and CREAW
Tel: +254 71 026 1408
Email: carolene.kituku@gmail.com
Christine Ogutu
Communications Officer/Manager(CREAW).
Cell: +254 724 961 386
Email: christine.ogutu@creawkenya.org
DOWNLOAD FULL PRESS RELEASE: http://www.the-isla.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PressRelease_DKCASE_Filling_April-2021.pdf