Nairobi — Standard Chartered Bank Kenya will appeal a ruling by a Court of Appeal (CoA) that directed it to pay its former employees millions in retirement benefits.
This comes after the lender lost an appeal case with its former workers recently at the CoA.
"Standard Chartered Kenya is aware of the latest ruling in the case brought forward by former colleagues regarding a retirement benefits dispute," the Bank said in a statement.
"While we are appealing the decision, we remain fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and pursuing a fair and just resolution in line with the spirit of the Constitution."
StanChart and a group of retrenched workers have been at loggerheads on pension obligations compliance failure.
The Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) initially dismissed their claims, prompting the employees to escalate the matter to the Tribunal.
The Tribunal ruled in favour of the workers, directing that their pension benefits be correctly computed and paid out.
The Bank subsequently moved to the High Court, seeking to overturn the Tribunal's decision, but its petition was dismissed, leading to the appeal.
StanChart, in its appeal, argued that the Tribunal had acted without jurisdiction by failing to take oral evidence during its proceedings.
It further contended that the Tribunal's order for the computation of pension benefits exceeded its authority.
CoA, however, found that the Tribunal was well within its legal mandate to rely on written submissions as part of its procedural flexibility.
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Additionally, the Court of Appeal ruled that the High Court's decision was sound, stating that the appeal was limited to procedural matters rather than a merit review of the Tribunal's determination.
The court also rejected claims that the Tribunal's directives had violated principles of fair administrative action, emphasizing that Stanchart had consented to the Tribunal's procedural approach and had actively participated in the proceedings.
A key aspect of the ruling was the emphasis on trustee duties in pension fund management.
CoA affirmed that trustees are required to administer pension funds in strict compliance with the law and the trust deed governing the benefits.
The Tribunal's decision was therefore upheld, compelling the bank to compute and disburse the retrenched workers' pensions in accordance with its directives.
The court firmly stated, "A party who lost in appeal cannot then turn around and disown the process that they subscribed to and even participated in by way of filing documents, submissions, and participated in highlighting."
