MARIANE QUANSAH vs. ACCESS BANK [2017]DLHC9139

Date	2017-01-24
Suit No.	SUIT NO. INDL/63/12
Citation No.	[2017]DLHC9139

HER LADYSHIP JUSTICE JENNIFER ABENA DADZIE

SAMUEL M. CODJOE ESQ. OF LAW TRUST COMPANY ACCRA COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF

BENTSI-ENCHILL LETSA & ANKOMAH ACCRA COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT

[2017]DLHC9139
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >MARIANE
QUANSAH<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>ACCESS
BANK<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANT)<o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

SUIT NO.
INDL/63/12&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; DATE: 24TH JANUARY, 2017<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>SAMUEL
M. CODJOE, ESQ., OF LAW TRUST COMPANY, ACCRA, COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF<o:p></o:p>BENTSI-ENCHILL, LETSA &amp; ANKOMAH,
ACCRA, COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>

</div>CORAM:<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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HER LADYSHIP JUSTICE JENNIFER ABENA
DADZIE<o:p></o:p>

</div>JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>From the onset, I would note that this
case was transferred to the Commercial Court by Her Ladyship, the Chief
Justice, from the Industrial and Labour Court on November 17, 2015 for
continuation and adjudication.&nbsp; I have
reviewed the record of proceedings and the evidence adduced in this case
extensively.&nbsp; Plaintiff’s case consisted
of her own testimony and the documentary evidence she submitted in support of
her claim, marked in the record as Exhibits “A” through “U”.&nbsp; On the other hand, the Defendant’s case also
consisted of the cross-examination of the Plaintiff, the testimony of its
witness, Mrs. Ann Obeng-Ababio, Head of its Human Resource Department and its
supporting documents, which were marked into evidence as Exhibits “1” through “14”.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>A summary of the Plaintiff’s case is
as follows.&nbsp; It is the case of Plaintiff
that she is a lawyer and by a letter dated June 9, 2006, she was employed as
Company Secretary and Legal Advisor on Senior Manager Grade by Intercontinental
Bank Ghana Limited (hereinafter, “IBG”).&nbsp;
This letter of employment was tendered into evidence as Exhibit
“A”.&nbsp; The said appointment letter
also contained her conditions of service.&nbsp;
By dint of hard work, she gained several promotions with the result that
by October 2011, she was not only Company Secretary of IBG, but also one of the
three (3) General Managers of IBG.&nbsp; At
the 18th Board meeting of IBG held on August 4, 2010, the Board of
IBG decided to give her a sum of Two Thousand United States Dollars ($2,000.00)
and a business class air ticket annually as additional remuneration for her
position as Company Secretary, which position was concurrent to her position as
General Manager in IBG.&nbsp; An extract of
the said Board Meeting was tendered into evidence by the Plaintiff as Exhibit
“F”.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Defendant is a limited liability
company registered under the laws of Ghana and engages in the business of
banking.&nbsp; In October 2011, Defendant
merged with IBG.&nbsp; The single entity
created after the merger was rebranded as Access Bank, the Defendant herein,
with the result that after the merger, IBG ceased to exist.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Immediately after the merger Plaintiff
continued in her previous position at IBG until January 2012 when she was
transferred to the Retail Department of the Defendant Bank.&nbsp; By a Letter of Absorption, dated March 9,
2012 from IBG, she was informed that as a result of the merger all assets of
IBG had been transferred to Defendant.&nbsp;
Plaintiff tendered this letter and it is marked into evidence as Exhibit
“B”.&nbsp; By another Absorption
Letter, Exhibit “D” dated March 12, 2012 from the Defendant, Plaintiff
was informed she had been absorbed into the Defendant’s employment.&nbsp; The letter stated she was being absorbed into
Defendant bank with her existing contract of service with IBG. The letter also
stated her employment was to be governed by the terms and conditions of the
Defendant’s Staff handbook and other policies in force.&nbsp; The Staff Handbook of the Defendant
(hereinafter, the “Access Staff Handbook”) was tendered by the Plaintiff as Exhibit
“E”.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>After receipt of the letters,
Plaintiff claims that she referred to the Access Staff Handbook and realised
the terms of employment were different from the terms of the IBG as contained
in its Staff Handbook, which adversely affected her and led to a diminution of
her benefits.&nbsp; Plaintiff tendered the IBG
Staff Handbook into evidence and same was marked as Exhibit “C”.&nbsp; The benefits she lost, according to her
testimony, include airtime allowance, fuel for status car, funeral support,
furniture allowance, ticket allowance, security and house allowances, rent
loan, study leave and gratuity schemes.&nbsp;
Further, leave allowance as well as interest rate and payment period of
mortgage loans and car loans of Defendant were onerous as compared to that
enjoyed under IBG.&nbsp; Plaintiff further
testified that she also found the requirement in Exhibit “D” that she was
required to write and pass, with a minimum of sixty-five percent (65%) score,
the Defendant Bank’s Credit Policy Test in not more than two (2) sittings by
June 30, 2012, which requirement was not existent under IBG, to be equally
burdensome.&nbsp; After the merger, Plaintiff
asserts further, that she also lost her position as Company Secretary with its
accompanying remuneration. <o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>It is the claim of the Plaintiff that
in spite of the diminution she believed she would suffer, she accepted the new
terms of employment, but under protest, that is subject to satisfactory
explanations of certain concerns she had raised by her letter of March 19,
2012, which is marked into evidence as Exhibit “S”.&nbsp; According to the Plaintiff, this acceptance
was to ensure that she complied with the deadline contained in Exhibit
“D”, the Absorption Letter of March 12, 2012, which gave a deadline by
which time the offer was to be accepted.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Based on these developments, the
Plaintiff says she had discussions with the Managing Director of Defendant
Bank, Dolapo Ogundimu, in which she informed him of the diminution of her
benefits and her resultant redundancy. She states the l</main>