Bank and General Workers Union v Workers' Bank of Trinidad and Tobago

• Jurisdiction: Trinidad & Tobago
• Judge: Sealey, C.
• Judgment Date: 30 October 1991
• Court: Industrial Court (Trinidad and Tobago)
• Docket Number: 52 of 1985
• Date: 30 October 1991

Industrial Court

Sealey, C.

52 of 1985

Bank and General Workers Union

and

Workers' Bank of Trinidad and Tobago

Appearances:

Mr. M. Als 1st Vice-President for party no. 1.

Mr. D. Mendez attorney-at-law for party no. 2.

Industrial law - Termination of employment — Dismissal for issuing receipt without authority resulting in losses to Bank — Whether dismissal harsh and oppressive — Dismissal of second worker for gross negligence in not maintaining adequate control over his receipt book — Whether dismissal harsh and oppressive — Finding that workers were negligent — Dismissal justified.

Sealey, C.

1 Claudette Clement was employed by Workers' Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (‘the Bank’) as a Clerk Typist/Receptionist on November 5, 1975. She was promoted from time to time and by October 1984 she had been appointed Supervisor of the Central Services Unit responsible for super-vision of personnel in the word processing section. She was acting Manager of that Unit when she was dismissed on October 5, 1984; the reason stated in the letter of dismissal was “improper intrusion into a Teller's Till, availing (herself) of the Teller's Receipt Book and issuing a receipt with-out authority and permission, thereby causing a breakdown in the Bank's accounting and internal controls and resulting in the loss to the Bank of $3,500.00.”

2 The Teller referred to was John Celestine. He was also dismissed that day on the ground of “gross negligence in not maintaining adequate control over (his) Teller's Till so as to allow (his) receipt book to be used by an unauthorised person without (his) knowledge thereby incurring a loss to the Bank of $3,500.00.”

3 Celestine began working with the Bank in May 1982 as a Teller in the Trust Administration Division and was transferred to General Manager's office in August 1984.

4 As Teller in the Trust Division he received monies paid by customers in cash or by cheque and issued receipts. These receipts were issued in triplicate with an original white and second and third copies pink and yellow, respectively. The original was issue to the person making payment, the pink copy retained in the receipt book and the yellow was eventually despatched to the data processing department where the information is put into the computer. The Teller is required to compile daily a teller's sheet on which is recorded the name of the customer, account number, and amount of money paid. At the end of the day the teller's sheet and yellow counterfoils are checked and balanced by the supervisor or other senior officer before the teller prepares a deposit slip for depositing the day's takings is the bank. The deposit slip is also verified by the checking officer.

5 Clement's duties were confined mainly to word the processing unit. It was not in dispute, however, that at the beginning of each month, the Trust Department was usually hard pressed to deal with the number of payments being made both over the counter and through the mail and personnel from other sections were directed to assist with the processing of cheques and the despatch of receipts during “the first ten days of each month on a full time basis. These instructions were contained in a directive issued by the General Manager on September 30 1983. The personnel so directed included Clement, as Administrative Services Clerk.

6 In October, 1984 in the course of an internal audit of the Trust Department with respect to year 1983, Hemlyn Alexis, then Chief Inspector with responsibility for internal audit, found a receipt for $3,500.00 issued to Theophilus Oliver signed by Claudette Clement. He knew that Clement was not authorized to sign receipts on October 14, 1983 the date on which the receipt was issued. The receipt should have been signed by the teller Celestine.

7 Alexis described the manner in which the directive was carried out regarding assistance to the Trust Department by persons from outsize the Department: such persons were given receipt books from a -source other than the receipt books issued to the Trust Teller, together with cheques which had been received in the mail by Administrative Services Division. At the end of the day receipt book and cheques are held in the Trust Department. On completion of the exercise the cheques are delivered with receipts and receipt books to the Assistant Manager, Trust Administration, who ensured that cheques and receipts balanced. The person who issued the receipts did not post them out. By October 14 any persons who had been brought in to assist with the processing of cheques would have completed their assignments. In fact, Alexis said he has ascertained that assistance was not necessary and had not been requested during the first 10 lays of October 1983.

8 Clement admitted that she had signed and issued a receipt for $3,500.00 credited to Oliver's account on October 14 1983. On that morning she received a telephone...