Monrovia – The Hearing Section at the Ministry of Labor in Monrovia has held the Management of SIB Bank Liberia liable for the wrongful dismissal of the Bank’s Manager at Ganta Branch Levi Zansi and ordered his reinstatement or payment of over Ten Thousand United States Dollars (US$10,000).
Following over eight months of hearing which included the Bank presenting its evidence to support its action, the Hearing Officer, Cyrus Wehyee ruled that the evidence adduced by the Bank did not support the action of upright dismissal of Zansi.
On May 8, 2024, Zansi through his Lawyer Atty. Samwar S. Fallah wrote a letter of Complaint addressed to the Labor Minister, Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah stated that he was dismissed by the Bank accordingly for sharing his password with another employee of the Bank.
During the hearing process, the SIB Management stated that Mr. Zansi shared his password with another employee and his action violated the policy of the Bank for which he was automatically dismissed.
Zansi, in his defense stated that as Manager of the Bank he shared his password with the Customer Service Officer due to limited staff at the Bank because the Bank opened three payment widows and assigned just one Teller to serve all three windows and as Manager he was encountering problems where customers were queuing and complaining about delays in being served.
The Ganta Branch Manager told the hearing that since as part of his TOR he would go out of the Bank sourcing cash from friendly banks, he gave his password to the Customer Service Officer in order for the Customer Service Officer to be used to perform work in the interest of the bank.
The SIB Bank Internal Audit Unit, after noticing that Zansi had shared his password, commissioned an Internal Audit of the SIB Bank Ganta Bank and after the audit, it was observed that there were no financial losses incurred by the Bank.
During the Hearing, SIB Bank produced two witnesses in persons of Madam Dayinhweh D. George and Patrick Awuah who both testified that Zansi shared his password with another bank Staff and that led the Bank to commission an Internal Audit of the Ganta branch of the bank.
The two witnesses confirmed that during the Hearing, the Internal Audit did not find any illegal payment or financial discrepancies from the Ganta Branch but Zansi action was against the Bank’s policies including confidentiality policy and Information Security Policy, so he was dismissed.
SIB Bank Internal Auditor Patrick Awuah took the witness stand and testified that Zansi breached the Bank Information Policy as well as the Confidentiality Policy. When the SIB Bank Internal Auditor was asked on the cross examination, he told the Hearing that the Internal Audit did not find any evidence of financial loss but the policies breach by Zansi could lead to suspension or dismissal and in this case Zansi was dismissed.
Following the Hearing, the Hearing Officer in his final ruling stated that although Zansi shared his password with another employee, the facts indicated that there was no financial loss and that Zansi action was meant to ensure the smooth operations of the Bank and hence his action did not amount to immediate dismissal.
According to the Hearing Officer, there are grounds stated in the Decent Work Act for immediate termination of employment and sharing of password within the bank which did not lead to financial loss is not one of the grounds for immediate termination of employment.
In deciding the matter, the Hearing Officer raised the issue “whether or not the
Defendant/management incurred any financial loss as a result of the complainant sharing his password with the Customer Service Officer to warrant upright dismissal? And the Hearing officer said NO, stating the action of SIB Management to dismiss Zansi was wrongful and illegal.
“Hearing says Complainant Levi Zansi sharing his password was in good faith and due to the fact that sharing of the password did not lead to any financial losses to the Bank, the dismissal was wrongful. The Internal Audit by the Bank did not uncover any financial losses to the Bank and additionally, the staff with whom complainant Zansi shared his password is said to still be within the employee of the Bank”, the Hearing Officer stated in his ruling.
The Hearing Officer added that assuming without admitting that Complainant Zansi sharing his password was harmful to the Bank, the employee with whom he shared the password could not still be within the employ of SIB Bank.
Also, the claims that Zansi used to leave the bank during working hours, the Hearing Officer noted that SIB Bank did not prove the number of days Zansi was not at work and the total number of hours was not made known to warrant immediate dismissal.
The Hearing Officer stated “Wherefore and view of foregoing facts and circumstance, the Investigation hereby rules that the Management of SIB (Liberia) Limited is Liable for the action of Wrongful Dismissal and is ordered to reinstate Mr. Levi Zansi and pay all of his salaries and benefits from the time of his illegal dismissal up to the date of this Ruling as though his services were never terminated; or in lieu of reinstatement, the Complainant be paid the amount of US$10,248 (US$732x 14 months) for Wrongful Dismissal”.
If the Bank disagrees with the ruling it has thirty (30) days to file a Petition for Judicial Review with the National Labor Court of Montserrado County.
During the hearing the Complainant Levi Zansi was represented by Atty. Samwar S. Fallah, while SIB Bank was represented by its in-house lawyer, Cllr. Lorpu Zawu.
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