A judge has upheld a decision by Karen Hospital to sack an officer for abetting the misuse of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner without billing and invoicing for the services.
Mr Kevin Onchiri Simba was dismissed from the hospital on July 5, 2017, for failing to stop the misuse of an MRI scanner in a department where he worked as a supervisor.
Dismissing a case where Mr Simba had sought compensation for work-related discrimination and unfair termination of a contract of service, the Employment and Labour Relations Court said the sacking was proper.
“I find that the respondent (Karen Hospital) had a valid reason to consider terminating the services of the claimant (Mr Simba). The infraction relating to misuse of the MRI facility without billing for the service has been shown to have happened in a department over which the claimant had supervisory control with regard to billing and invoicing” Justice Bernard Odongo Matanga Manani said.
“The respondent was entitled to believe that the misconduct by the employees in the department in respect of the facility was on account of failure by those charged with the supervision of the section including the claimant to exercise sufficient control over it. The respondent was therefore entitled to subject the claimant to disciplinary action to explain the lapses in the department” he added.
The Judge further noted that Mr Simba failed to honour the summon of a disciplinary committee where he would have defended himself against the accusations levelled against him.
“Following the claimant’s failure to attend the disciplinary committee session, the respondent was entitled to terminate the claimant’s contract. Consequently, I find that the respondent’s decision to terminate the claimant’s contract of service was in the circumstances, lawful. That being the case, the claimant’s case is dismissed with costs to the respondent” Justice Manani said.
Failed to raise alarm
Karen Hospital said Mr Simba failed to raise the alarm about an irregular MRI scan within his docket. The hospital said that employees working under Mr Simba’s supervision performed the scan without first booking and billing for the procedure.
The institution said that as the function of billing fell under the former employee’s department, he ought to have flagged the anomaly immediately. The hospital said that Mr Simba only raised alarm about the irregular scan after several days and even downplayed the malpractice by accommodating a suggestion to settle the bill through deductions to his salary.
The hospital said it issued Mr Simba with a notice to explain the anomaly. He responded to the notice on May 27, 2017 and distanced himself from the malpractice. He stated that the malpractice was committed by other employees and that he acted on the matter.
Dissatisfied with the response, the hospital invited Mr Simba for a disciplinary hearing on May 29, 2017, which he did not attend. The hearing did not take off with the disciplinary committee resolving to terminate Mr Simba’s contract.
Mr Simba nonetheless claimed in court that he attended the disciplinary session but he did not sign the minutes of the committee. BY DAILY NATION