Judgments

The Labour Court has delivered a judgment in a case involving a claim of alleged arbitrary discrimination based on criminal record. The facts were as follows: Mr Elsworth applied for a job with LexisNexis. During the job application process, he disclosed that he had a criminal conviction from 2001 which […]

The Labour Court has delivered a judgment dealing with unpaid suspension for employees who delay disciplinary hearings in a matter involving Arcelormittal and its employee, Mr Strydom. The employer instituted disciplinary proceedings against the employee and placed him on paid suspension. However, during the course of the hearing, the employee […]

The latest Labour Court judgment on common purpose has been delivered in a matter involving Dis-chem. Employees embarked on a protected strike. There were various acts of violence and disorderly conduct during the strike. The Labour Court (per Van Niekerk J) granted an interdict against breaches of the picketing rules. […]

The appointment of the Johannesburg City Manager was set aside by the High Court in a judgment delivered on 7 November 2023. The Democratic Alliance launched an urgent application in which it sought an order setting aside the appointment of Floyd Brink, the City Manager. It argued that: the process […]

The employee worked at the Game store in Evaton. He challenged his dismissal for assault of shoplifters who were stealing from the store. The evidence was that he would slap them or hit them with a nearby object, and some of the shoplifters would cry as they were in pain. […]

Ms Lagadien was a disabled employee of the Department of Science and Technology. She resigned and claimed that she had been subject to a constructive dismissal linked to disability, and that her dismissal was automatically unfair based on her disability. Her main complaints related to the employer not providing her […]

The Labour Court has ordered lawyers to pay back legal fees charged to their clients and not to charge further legal fees for work done. The order includes the attorneys and the advocates who were involved in the matter. Sethene AJ (am acting judge), in a scathing judgment, began with […]

The Labour Appeal Court delivered an important judgment today (18 May 2023), declaring that the appointment of Joseph Mathunjwa as AMCU President was lawful. The judgment overturned an earlier judgment of the Labour Court (per Mabaso AJ) in which it was found that because Joseph Mathunjwa was not employed in […]

Can an employer abandon a part-heard disciplinary hearing and terminate the employment contact due to things the employee said at the hearing? This is the question that faced the Labour Court in an urgent application in which a employee sought to have the National Heritage Council’s termination of employment for […]

Toyota’s dismissal of a Zulu employee was found to be unfair by the CCMA and this finding was upheld on review by the Labour Court. The employee, Mr Njilo, was dismissed for dishonestly claiming leave for death of “mothers” and “son”. The “son” was Mr Njilo’s late brother’s son and […]