The National Housing Enterprise (NHE) has been ordered to reinstate former executive Willem Titus within 30 days after the Labour Court found that his dismissal in 2021 was unfair.
In a ruling delivered by acting judge James Devittie last week, the court set aside an arbitration award that upheld Titus' dismissal.
Devittie ordered the state-owned housing company to reinstate Titus in his former position or a comparable one on no less favourable terms than were applicable at the time of Titus' dismissal.
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The judgement also exposes NHE to a substantial backpay bill. Devittie ordered the housing parastatal to pay backpay to Titus from 6 December 2021 to the date of his reinstatement, with an amount equal to 30 months' remuneration and any income earned by Titus in alternative employment during the period after his dismissal deducted from the backpay amount.
Titus, who joined NHE in August 2001 and served as sales and lending executive, was suspended in September 2019 before being dismissed in December 2021 following disciplinary proceedings.
He was acquitted on nine charges but found guilty of insubordination and gross insolence.
The court upheld findings that Titus had committed misconduct but found that dismissal was too harsh a penalty.
"The appellant's misconduct, while deserving of censure, does not go to the root of the employment relationship so as to render continued employment intolerable," Devittie said.
"The sanction of dismissal was accordingly disproportionate and substantively unfair," he also said.
The dispute centred partly on Titus' refusal to immediately initiate recruitment for a vacant regional manager position at the NHE's western branch.
The court found that he had failed to comply with a lawful instruction from chief executive Gisbertus Mukulu.
The judgement also dealt with comments Titus made during an executive committee meeting in 2019, when he referred to members of the NHE board as 'fools'.
However, the court found that the arbitrator had failed to properly consider mitigating factors when deciding whether dismissal was appropriate.
Those factors included Titus' 20 years of service, a clean disciplinary record, positive performance assessments and evidence that he acted without malice.
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"The chief executive's concession that the appellant acted without malice is of particular significance," the judge said.
The court rejected the NHE's argument that the employment relationship between it and Titus had broken down beyond repair.
The ruling marks the latest chapter in a long-running dispute between Titus and the NHE management.
In 2019, after his suspension, Titus told The Namibian the company had spent more than N$200 000 in legal fees in attempts to remove him.
At the time, he accused Mukulu of targeting him and said: "Since Mukulu came, they have been trying to get rid of me, but they found nothing against me."
Titus had previously taken the NHE to court over the appointment of an acting chief executive and later challenged attempts to alter his employment conditions.
In 2021, the NHE concluded disciplinary proceedings against Titus after a process that started with his suspension two years earlier.
He was accused of insubordination and of failing to properly oversee housing projects at Ongwediva, allegations that could have resulted in losses exceeding N$10 million.
The court made no order as to costs.
