By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A former employee of a pan-Africa financial technology (fintech) firm, Flutterwave, Ms Clara Wanjiku Odero, has lost her bid to get about $900,000 from the company as damages.
Instead, a Court of Appeal in Kenya has awarded her about $2,500 for the failure of her former employer to remove her contact details from its M-Pesa Paybill account after her resignation in 2018.
In a suit at the lower court titled Clara Wanjiku Odero vs Flutterwave Payments Technologies Limited, Civil Appeal No. HCCA E197 of 2020, the claimant said she suffered public embarrassment, emotional distress, and reputational damage after she left the organisation because customers of Flutterwave were bombarding her with calls regarding company-related issues.
She approached the court for the payment of $900,000 in damages, but the lower court overturned this request.
Not satisfied, she appealed the judgement but Justice Alexander Muasya held on Friday, September 27, 2024, that Ms Odero, who now runs a tech organisation in Kenya known as Credrails, backed by Softbank, could not provide medical or independent evidence supporting her claims.
In response, the court determined that there was no causal link between Flutterwave’s negligence and any reputational harm, and then awarded her Ksh100,000 for emotional distress and Ksh150,000 as aggravated damages, totalling Ksh250,000 (approximately $2,500), far from the $900,000 she had requested.
“The award in damages was capped at Ksh250,000 by the Magistrate. I do not find reason to disturb his finding considering that there was no proof of loss of reputation. The sum was reasonable,” Justice Muasya declared, dismissing the appeal and awarding Flutterwave the costs of the suit.
Business Post reports that Flutterwave had expressed regret over the delay in updating Ms Odero’s contact details and had offered to settle the matter amicably.
It denied her accusations, including claims of bullying by its chief executive, Mr Olugbenga Agboola, stating: “As an organization that continuously strives to create an environment where employees feel secure and safe, we take the recent allegations of bullying from a former employee very seriously. We categorically state that there is no place for bullying or harassment of any kind in our workplace.”