When oil company Tollow hired Lynnet Kathure on March 1, 2012, as its human resource manager for its Nairobi office, she was such an excellent employee that it seconded her to move to West London as a human resource projects and analytics Lead.

However, there was an issue regarding the company’s policy, which stated that short-term assignments abroad would last between three and 12 months but were reserved for single individuals. According to the document, those on short-term assignments were entitled to 50 Euros (Sh7,447).

On the other hand, those with families would enjoy benefits as those of long-term assignees.

The differences in the terms and failure to factor in single mothers have cost the firm more than Sh11 million.

Employment and Labour Relations Judge Nzioki wa Makau in his judgment said Tullow discriminated Kathure for treating her as a single person, while in essence she was with her two children.

The judge said that it was cruel for the firm to send her to UK and subject her to suffering with her children.

“The Claimant was from all intents and purposes discriminated against whether it was the haphazard manner of her deployment, the fact that she was assigned single status yet she moved to the United Kingdom with her two children then aged 6 years and 4 years,” said Justice Nzioki.

He continued: “It is trite law that the best interests of a minor are to secure the most favourable outcome and it would have been cruel for the Respondent to expect the Claimant who was the primary care giver of her children to relocate to the United Kingdom without her children. The Respondent turned a deaf ear to her pleas for reconsideration.”

At the same time, he said that the firm also unfairly shunted her out because of a flash disk, and paid her Sh249,000 despite it starting the separation process.

She ordered Tullow to pay her Sh4 million as compensation for discrimination. He also compelled it to compute all the allowances it did not pay her while in UK. At the same time, she awarded her 400 pounds (Sh69,600) as transport allowance for the years she was away and 12 months compensation for unlawful termination of her employment.

“Treatment of employees facing the same circumstances differently is considered outright discrimination. The Claimant therefore suffered indignity by being unable to meet her basic needs. The Claimant was paid in Kenya Shillings and not Sterling Pounds thus disadvantaging her on her international assignment as London is not a cheap town to live in,” he said.

In the case, Kathure informed Justice Nzioki that she had told her employer she was a single mother of six and four-year-olds whom she was relocating with. 

She asked for an increase of the per diem by 50 pounds (Sh8,700), as well as the settling allowance and cold clothing allowance, which had been set at 500 Euros (Sh74,475) each for a lone assignee.

Additionally, she requested that the company permit the children’s nanny to accompany her to the United Kingdom, as those in Britain were excessively expensive compared to the rates in Kenya. 

Kathure’s last plea to her employer was to be paid in sterling pounds instead of Kenya shillings to avoid forex losses.

She moved to London on April 7, 2016 with her family. However, Tullow only increased the cold clothing allowance by 750 pounds (Sh130,503).

Kathure narrated that life in UK was causing her a financial strain as a single mother as she was also being paid in Kenya shillings.

According to her, the assignment was to end on March 31, 2017. However, in November 2016, the oil company asked her to stay longer. She asked that her terms be revised as a condition for extension.

Kathure said that Tullow had not put in place structures to address concerns by women, especially single mothers.

She lamented that while other persons who had families enjoyed higher pay and allowances, the company discriminated against her for treating her as a single person despite knowing that she also had a family in the UK.

Nevertheless, she was promoted in January 2018 in the UK to senior human resource business partner for Tullow Kenya.

She explained that when she returned, it was a shocker to learn the work entailed 10 per cent human resource work, while the other was 90 per cent facilities work, which was at odds with her skills.

That is when the troubles started. Kathure said Tullow’s Managing Director called her to discuss the way forward.

She was subsequently fired for using a personal USB on a company’s laptop, which she was using to back up her files since discussions about her exit had started. She was to leave in July 2018

In its response, Tullow denied any wrongdoing. It claimed that it had provided Kathure with an additional 6000 pounds (Sh1,044,030) to support her children while in the UK. This, it argued, was an exception.

Tullow stated that it underwent re-organisation in 2017 following a decision to reduce drilling activities, which involved merging roles and resulted in inevitable redundancies. It further noted that the Human Resource function was one of the areas impacted by the reorganisation, as two units, the information security department and facilities management, were assigned to HR without an increase in headcount. 

According to the firm, Kathure had been informed in advance that she would be assigned the facilities management role once she returned to Kenya, in addition to human resource management.

It was argued that the decision to dismiss her was based on the use of a non-Tullow-approved external USB, constituting gross misconduct.