Cargill ordered to pay dismissed worker

fired after a disciplinary hearing and unsuccessfully noted an appeal with the Cargill managing director in April 2007.
Maganga then noted an appeal with the Labour Court, which ruled in his favour.
Cargill was ordered to reinstate him with no loss of salary or benefits or alternatively pay damages in lieu of reinstatement.
However, pending determination of Maganga’s appeal by the Labour Court, he secured alternative employment with another company on May 2, 2007.
He argued that in taking this alternative employment, he was mitigating damages that would have been paid to him.
Labour Court president Ms Lilian Hove highlighted that an employee was entitled to be compensated for actual loss he suffered.
Ms Hove said: “In the payment of damages, Maganga should be put as far as possible in the position he would have been but for Cargill’s unlawful action, this is trite.
“For Cargill’s unlawful action, Maganga would have earned his salary from the date of the unlawful dismissal to the date he got alternative employment.”
She pointed out that Maganga was thus entitled to his salary and benefits from the date of the unlawful dismissal to May 2, 2007.
However, Ms Hove said, his damages could not be limited up to May 2, 2007 because he had secured a less paying job.
The evidence on record was that in the alternative job he got paid US$540, while in his previous job he unjustly lost he would have earned US$800 per month.
“Therefore from May, he would have suffered damages in the sum of US$259, being the difference between his current salary and what he would have earned had Cargill not unlawfully dismissed him,” said Ms Hove.
Maganga had argued that he ought to be paid the difference in salary for the rest of his working life, which was rejected by the court as an unreasonable claim.
Ms Hove said a period of three years would adequately compensate Maganga for the loss of a well paying job.
She then ordered Cargill to pay Maganga his salary and benefits from the date of the unlawful dismissal to May 2, 2007 when he secured alternative employment.
Cargill was also ordered to pay him US$9 356 as compensation for the loss of a better paying job.
This was calculated from the difference between Maganga’s salary and that which he earned in the alternative employment over a period of three years.