BSP Wins Case Against Union

The Arbitration Court has found that the Bank of South Pacific followed its procedures to summarily dismiss a former employee.

The employee Silivenusi Gavidi took BSP to court.

Gavidi was a marketing officer at the bank, made the application for compensation to the Arbitration Court seeking remedies under Section 191 BTB of Employment Relations Amendment Act No 01 of 2016.

The matter was presided by Chief Registrar Yohan Liyanage as the chair and Bua Vuli and Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum as members.

The court in its conclusion stated that in the final analysis, the court found that fair and reasonable opportunity had been accorded to Gavidi to explain the serious allegation of submitting a false letter and a declaration to the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) and that Gavidi failed to offer any explanation.

The court dismissed the application filed by Gavidi for compensation.

Background:

Gavidi was summarily dismissed by BSP on January 4, 2013. The bank stated that during the period, Gavidi was on leave without pay and was supposed to resume duties on January 14, 2013.

On December 12, 2012, an email was received by the bank from FNPF seeking confirmation whether Gavidi had been terminated from the bank.

It was alleged that Gavidi provided a false letter under the designation of general manager human resources stating that he had been terminated from the bank with effective from October 18, 2012.

On December 27, 2012, the HR division had requested Gavidi to attend a meeting with the acting general manager retail banking division on December 31, 2012, to explain the contents of the letter provided to FNPF.

However, Gavidi failed to attend the meeting and this led to his summary dismissal for serious misconduct under clause 4.0 of BSP’s Professional Practice Policy.

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

Feedback: ashna.kumar@fijisun.com.fj