Gemalto SA (Pty) Ltd v Ceppwawu obo Louw (JA 54/14) [2015] ZALAC 36; [2015] 11 BLLR 1100 (LAC) (27 August 2015) per Tlaletsi DJP [Landman and Sutherland JJA concurring]
The Labour Appeal Court disallowed the employer’s appeal and upheld the Labour Court’s order and the award of about R1,026,970 in compensation for 21 former employees.
LAC summary:
Review of arbitration award – dismissed employees singled out among a group of employees for refusing to subject themselves to polygraph testing – reasons for which employees dismissed not serving the real purpose of the polygraph test – no rational link between the dismissal and the alleged misconduct – selective dismissal unfair – dismissal substantively unfair – commissioner’s award falling within the band of reasonableness.
Reported [2015] 11 BLLR 1100; (2015) ILJ 3002 (LAC)
BLLR headnote:
Dismissal – Misconduct – Employees selected for dismissal from large number of those who declined to undergo polygraph tests simply because they had signed contracts containing obligation to undergo tests on request – Dismissal unfair.