CHATLANI vs. HAROUTUNIAN

The plaintiff, employed since 1959 initially as a storekeeper and later promoted to manager of the defendant's retail store in Accra, claimed damages for wrongful dismissal, unpaid leave salary, and gratuity. The defendant, a general merchant with business interests in Ghana and England, dismissed the plaintiff in January 1969 citing shortages in cash and stock discovered during stocktaking. The plaintiff contended the dismissal was wrongful, alleging the real reason was the defendant's suspicion that the plaintiff disclosed the defendant's tax fraud to the Income Tax Department. The plaintiff also claimed entitlement to annual leave which he was never allowed to take, and denied liability for the shortages, attributing them to pilfering by other employees. The defendant denied these claims, asserting the dismissal was due to the shortages and misconduct by the plaintiff, including unauthorized withdrawals from cash sales and granting unauthorized credits. The defendant counterclaimed for the shortages and outstanding amounts.

The plaintiff herein is claiming the following reliefs: “(1) ¢1,200.00 being damages for wrongful dismissal; (2) ¢1,733.32 being leave salary due and owing by the defendant to the plaintiff; and (3) ¢2,320.00 being gratuity due and owing by the defendant to the plaintiff.” All the parties are foreigners who have been living in this country for a considerable number of years. The defendant has been a general merchant, trading in all sorts of merchandise. He had a retail store in Accra and in 1959, he employed the plaintiff as a store-keeper in that store. In the course of time, the defendant promoted the plaintiff to the status of a manager, and by May 1962, the plaintiff was in full control of the defendant’s business in Ghana on a monthly salary of ¢200.00. The defendant had other business interests in England and he was therefore partly living in Manchester. The plaintiff said he worked for nearly ten years without going on leave, even though by the terms of his emp...