Lawyer wins sacking case over 'Lollipop' nicknames

Valerie Angawa was accused of sexually harassing a male colleague by calling her names like "baby boy", "lollipop", and "baby boy lollipop." [Valerie Angawa, LinkedIn]

A city lawyer has successfully challenged her termination from employment over sexual harassment claims, which were based on her alleged references to a former colleague as "baby boy", "lollipop", and "baby boy lollipop."

In a judgment delivered by the Nairobi Employment and Labour Relations Court, the court ruled that the sexual harassment allegations, which formed the basis of her dismissal, were malicious, unfounded and never occurred-or if they did, the alleged victim, Samfelix Randa, appeared to welcome them, given his failure to report the matter over one year and five months.

In a petition filed at the Nairobi Employment and Labour Relations Court in December 2022, Valarie Angawa, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, challenged her termination from employment by her former employer, Kituo Cha Sheria - Legal Advice Center. She filed the case through the firm of Seko Minayo and Company Advocates.

At the time of her termination in November 2022, Angawa was serving as the Coordinator of the Advocacy, Governance and Community Partnership (AGCP) Programme at Kituo Cha Sheria.

Angawa was terminated on the grounds that she had sexually harassed Randa, that her management style was characterised by micromanagement, favouritism and lack of collegiality, that she had breached the chain of command, and that she had contributed to bringing the organization into disrepute.

Feeling aggrieved by her dismissal, Angawa sued both Kituo Cha Sheria and its former executive director Dr Annette Mbogoh. According to court documents, the two were represented by the firm of Mumma and Kanjama Advocates.

Angawa sought, among other remedies, a declaration that the respondents' decision to terminate her contract was unfair, unlawful and amounted to a violation of her constitutional rights to fair labour practices and fair administrative action.

She also requested an award of general damages for the violation of her constitutional rights under Articles 27,28,31, 41, 47 and 50 of the constitution. Additionally, she sought general damages for unfair and wrongful termination based on unproven and unsubstantiated allegations of sexual harassment.

In a judgment delivered on May 9, 2025, Justice Byram Ongaya found that Angawa's termination was unfair both in substance and procedure, in violation of Sections 44 and 45 of the Employment Act, 2007.

The court further observed that "the termination was blended with malice, manifested in the disregard of the grievance procedure by the Performance Committee and the failure to follow the proper process for investigating sexual harassment complaints by the ad hoc committee. The sexual harassment policy specifically prohibited the making of malicious sexual harassment claims."

The court found that the alleged victim had acquiesced to the use of the pet names "baby boy", "lollipop", "baby boy lollipop" for a period of more than one year and five months. These terms were also used by other staff members at Kituo on several occasions without Randa raising any complaint. In one instance, the court noted, the entire AGCP team prepared a birthday cake for Randa with the inscription "baby boy lollipop," to which he neither objected nor filed a complaint.

The court further observed that there was no evidence to support the alleged instances of physical sexual harassment. Randa neither reported the incidents nor called any witnesses who were allegedly present when the events occurred to testify on his behalf.

The court further noted it was curious that Angawa, who had joined the organization in 2015 and maintained an impeccable record, was suddenly portrayed as a villain following a joint complaint by five of her supervisees in April 2022.

It also observed that Dr Mbogoh, Angawa's supervisor, had never raised concerns about her performance or conduct, nor issued any warnings prior to the complaint, which included allegations of sexual harassment.

The court found that the petitioner's rights under Articles 27, 41, 47, and 50 of the Constitution had been violated, and that the respondents failed to follow the termination procedures outlined in the Human Resource Policy and the Sexual Harassment Policy.

As a result, the court ordered Kituo Cha Sheria to compensate Angawa by July 1, 2025, failing which the amount would accrue interest at court rates from the date of the judgment.

Angawa's lawyer, Dennis Seko, welcomed the ruling, stating: "The judgment sends a positive message to employers who use false excuses to sack their employees."