IOL Business reports that the Labour Court (LC) has sided with Transnet in a dispute over insubordination and insolence, overturning a commissioner’s order that two dismissed employees be reinstated with 18 months’ back pay.
The case centred on two Transnet workers – a senior technical employee and a stock controller – who were fired after sending what management described as “threatening, intimidating, undermining and defamatory” emails to senior managers. The pair claimed they were acting on behalf of members of the National Transport Movement, a union not recognised by Transnet. The commissioner had earlier ruled that the dismissals were both procedurally and substantively unfair, saying the workers were denied representation, that the charges were vague, and that their medical certificates explaining their absence from the disciplinary hearing were ignored.
However, the LC found that the commissioner had “failed to properly consider the true nature of the matter before her, together with the evidence”. The court said the commissioner “focused her attention on why the emails had been sent and not the contents of the emails and the impact these emails had on the recipients.” Transnet argued that the workers could have followed the company’s grievance procedure instead of launching an email attack on management. The court agreed, ruling that the commissioner had “misconstrued the true nature of the dispute before her”.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicola Mawson at IOL Business
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