The US$700,000 libel suit that involved Mr. Wilmot Smith (plaintiff), former Deputy Director General for Information Coordination, at the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo Information Services (LISGIS), and Ecobank Liberia Limited and Yussif Kromah, Card Operations Reconciliation Officer (defendants), has taken a dramatic turn with the bank disassociating from Kromah.
"The Action of Damages for Wrong will not lie, because co-defendant Krompah acted ultra vires and outside his duties. Hence, we cannot be held liable for conduct of an employee who acts outside his duties and functions," the bank argued in its answer against the lawsuit.
According to the bank, it cannot be held responsible for any reputable damages against Plaintiff's character or the exposure to any harm or criminal acts by the public, because the co-defendant Ecobank did no wrong. Rather, it addressed the situation with promptness based on the request from the Minister of Finance and former chairman of the Board of Directors of LIGIS, Samuel Tweah by putting this issue to rest.
However, Smith's lawsuit sought US$500,000 in general damages and US$200,000 as punitive damages from the defendants, arguing that co-defendant Ecobank was responsible under the doctrine of Respondent's superior.
Under this law, the co-defendant Ecobank cannot avoid responsibility for the wrongful conduct of its employee, mainly when the conduct was exhibited within the regular course of duty of the co-defendant Ecobank.
Smith has claimed that Co-defendant Kromah, as an employee of the co-defendant Ecobank, went into the account of LISGIS, there he printed its (LISGIS) bank statements and gave it to an unauthorized person Alex Williams and the Spoon TV and Stanton Witherspoon.
According to Smith, they (Williams and Spoon TV) manipulated the said document and misinformed the Liberian public that the plaintiff had transferred a significant amount of money and opened the same in a foreign account and had stolen the enumerators' money and converted the same into his personal use.
In counterargument, Ecobank said its customer's account statements were exposed by an individual employee of the bank, who did not act in the line of his duty.
They argue that they took all the necessary steps as required by policy to investigate and terminate co-defendant Kromah's employment.
Furthermore, the co-defendant reiterates that the account subject of this Action is not the property of the plaintiff; rather, the account belongs to an agency of the Government of Liberia.
"The plaintiff suffered no injury, neither directly nor indirectly attributable to the co-defendant bank," the response indicated.
They argue that the plaintiff should instead properly and advisably redirect his suit against Mr. Alex Williams, deputy director for Statistics of LIGIS and co-defendant Kromah. According to the co-defendant, Ecobank, the two are the persons who knowingly and willingly made misrepresentation in the public space about the account statement that was never manipulated in any form or manner by co-defendant Ecobank.
"Defendant bank says there are many other signatories to this account apart from plaintiff and whatever statement published or discussed in the media was never altered or manipulated nor did co-defendant Ecobank participate in any public discussion relative to the account with intent to malign plaintiff," argued the bank.
The bank claims that it has no interest in destroying plaintiff's character and at no time did it assist or collaborate with any media institution, including Spoon TV, to discuss plaintiff's employment with LISGIS, and it contributed in no way to the dismissal of the plaintiff.
"Plaintiff has failed to show any proof that it aided the Spoon TV media to defame plaintiff character in relation to a statement of account which is the property of an Agency of the Government and by transitivity, the government of Liberia in its entirety," argues the bank.
"It has never been part of any statements made by Spoon TV against the plaintiff to damage his reputation and it has no interest in damaging plaintiff's reputation and for what motive or reasons could the co-defendant Ecobank elect to do so," the bank argued.
Ecobank also argued that the principle of Respondent's superior will not lie as co-defendant's conduct was contrary to his duties and functions as an employee of the bank.
"Co-defendant Ecobank says that co-defendant Kromah served as Card Operations department, where he served as card Operation Reconciliation officer has no connection to accessing customers' account statements nor giving out statements to customers.
"The work of giving out statements to customers is solely under the purview of the Relationship officers of the bank's marketing department. Co-defendant Kromah was aware that his action was intentional and outside his line of duty. He acted ultra vires for which he must take and bear personal responsibility," the bank argued.
They argue that they denied the allegation that it knew about the display and transaction enquiry of the LIGIS statement discussed on Spoon TV and other social media platforms and decided to do no investigation internally.
Co-defendant Ecobank says it conducted an investigation growing out of a communication from the Minister of Finance, on November 17, 2023, relative to a malicious campaign by the dismissed deputy director for Statistics, Alex Williams, against him.
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The bank is claiming that they conducted a thorough investigation as requested by the Minister of Finance and it discovered that one of its staff from the bank's cards operation department had given Alex Williams misinformation, co-defendant Yussif S. Kromah was investigated and dismissed.
Furthermore the communication November 17, 2023, did not make any mention or reference to the plaintiff as insinuated in the complaint.
They argue that the attestation by co-defendant Kromah shows that the defendant bank is exonerated from the case because co-defendant Kromah has expressed that he knowingly did the act and that the plaintiff can come after him for damages and not the co-defendant Ecobank since co-defendant Kromah has confessed to the action.
Co-defendant Ecobank says it has built a reputation over the years as one of the strongest supporters of government policies, transparency in public space, and respect for privacy.
Co-defendant Ecobank says the investigation was not about the plaintiff instead, the Minister of Finance, who serves as chairman of LIGIS board of directors requested same and co-defendant Eco-bank did the right and prudent thing by swiftly conducting an investigation internally and dismissed the co-defendant Kromah for his wrongdoing.
