EMMANUEL ERZUAH (PLAINTIFF) vs. GHANA RAILWAY COMPANY LTD [2019]DLHC7059

Date	2019-06-13
Suit No.	SUIT NO. E3/11/16
Citation No.	[2019]DLHC7059

HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE RICHARD ADJEI – FRIMPONG J.

MR. DAVID OWUSU TAKYI ESQ. FOR THE PLAINTIFF.

MR. BAFFOUR DWUMANH ESQ. FOR DEFENDANT.

[2019]DLHC7059
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >EMMANUEL ERZUAH<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>GHANA RAILWAY COMPANY LTD<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANT)<o:p></o:p>[HIGH
COURT, SEKONDI]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

SUIT
NO. E3/11/16&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: 13TH JUNE,
2019<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>MR.
DAVID OWUSU TAKYI ESQ. FOR THE PLAINTIFF.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

MR. BAFFOUR DWUMANH ESQ. FOR
DEFENDANT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:<o:p></o:p>HIS
LORDSHIP JUSTICE RICHARD ADJEI – FRIMPONG J.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
border-left:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;border-right:none;
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%;
border:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in">JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>At all times material to this
action, the plaintiff was an employee of the Ghana Railway Company Limited, the
defendant herein. Following a controversy to do with his date of birth, the
defendant brought the employment to an end on the basis of retirement, a
position the plaintiff strongly contests. The events leading to the action had
unfolded this way.<o:p></o:p>In May 2013, the Ministry of
Transport with oversight responsibility over the defendant company requested
the defendant to carry out a biometric exercise of all the staff of the
company. It was believed it had become rampant for the staff of the company, by
the use of affidavits, to cut down their ages, postpone their retirement and
overstay in employment. For purposes of the exercise, the defendant requested
the staff to submit personal employment details including their Social Security
and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) records and their dates of birth to be
cross checked. The exercise revealed disparities in the dates of birth of staff
in the defendant’s records and the records from SSNIT. In the case of the
plaintiff it was found that his date of birth in the company’s records was 2nd
September 1958 whilst the records at SSNIT showed that he was born on 2nd
November 1955. Upon investigating the matter including having the plaintiff and
others appear before an in-house committee hearing, the defendant opted to go
by the plaintiff’s date of birth contained in the SSNIT records. By that, the
defendant proceeded to retire the plaintiff on 2nd September 2015
the date he was taken to have attained the retiring age of 60 years. All these
matters are not in any controversy.<o:p></o:p>Now aggrieved by the defendant’s decision,
the plaintiff caused his lawyers to write to the defendant to rescind the
position. The defendant stood it grounds and the plaintiff came to sue in this
court claiming the following reliefs:<o:p></o:p>(i)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
An
order directed at the defendant company to use 2nd November 1958 as
plaintiff’s date of birth<o:p></o:p>(ii)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
An
order to re-instate plaintiff<o:p></o:p>(iii)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Or
in the ALTERNATIVE, use the conditions of stipulations and NOT the said MEMO to
retire the him, pay all his benefits and entitlements due him<o:p></o:p>(iv)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
An
order directed at the defendant, its assigns, privies etc to desist from
interfering with the plaintiff’s quiet enjoyment of the said Bungalow No.4
Pawpaw Villa—Takoradi, being the official residence thereof<o:p></o:p>(v)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Perpetual
injunction restraining the defendant company from ever going to the said
Bungalow No.4 Pawpaw Villa, Takoradi, pending the final determination of the
matter.<o:p></o:p>(vi)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
General
damages<o:p></o:p>