A Kenyan security guard has sued her employer after she was allegedly dismissed for insisting that a government minister undergoes a security check at the country’s main airport while trying to catch a domestic flight, the Standard newspaper reports.
Daisy Cherogony is reported to have insisted that Education Minister Fred Matiang’i queue and undergo security checks like other passengers in an incident on 6 April.
Her employer, Kenya’s Airport Authority (KAA), dismissed her on 11 May on grounds of gross misconduct for mistreating and humiliating the minister.
In her court documents filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court, Ms Cherogony says she was accused of making a mistake that does not exist and was victimised and discriminated against by KAA, the Standard reports.
She says that according to the airport security manual, government ministers do not qualify for any preferential treatment unless they have special passes.
Ms Cherogony said the minister, accompanied by an airport police inspector and his security team, had tried to force their way instead of waiting in line like other passengers:
“He (Matiang’i) did not want to follow the queue but wanted special treatment despite the fact that it was raining and people were complaining.”
She now wants the court to declare her termination unfair and to award her $23,000 (£17,000) for wrongful dismissal.
She accuses KAA of frustrating her efforts to claim her job benefits.
The airport authority body has 15 days to respond to the suit.