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Article

13 Feb 2017

Author:
Judge Njuguna, in Kenya Law Report

Court ruling allowing former employee to sue Safaricom

"Cyrus Ombuna Machini vs Safaricom Limited"

...The Plaintiff stated that he was employed by the Defendant at Customer Care Centre as a customer care representative. That due to the nature of his work, he spent long hours on head phones which exposed him to high sound volume. That as a result of the said exposure since the year 2008 he has developed medical complications to his ears. He was treated and later fitted with hearing aids. Despite the hearing aid, he continued losing his hearing capacity.

He stated that he was diagnosed with a bilateral sensor neural hearing loss and a recommendation by doctors is that he be fitted with a WIDEX clear 440 type hearing aid to relieve the symptoms and amplify sounds and also an electronic hearing and dryer (DRY- GO-UV) to prevent the hearing aids from damage caused by moisture and or water. That he obtained a detailed Medical Report to confirm the status of his health. He further stated that prior to this, he had been treated and a recommendation made that he be transferred to another department but the Defendant did not heed to the recommendation. He alleged that his hearing capacity has been deteriorating with time and it is difficult to determine when the cause of action arose as it has been a continuous cause where he cannot tell when the time started running. That he has since been declared to have suffered a permanent disability as he cannot hear properly.

It is apparent from the record that the Plaintiff’s injury so to speak occurred in the year 2008 but it was not until the medical assessment report from Ministry of Health dated 4th May, 2016 confirmed that he had lost his ability to hear as a result of the prolonged use of headphones and pains he underwent in 2008.