Kenyan Court Rules in Favour of Flutterwave in Former Worker’s Case

The Kenyan Court of Appeal on Friday, delivered its verdict in the appeal case between Clara Wanjiku Odero, a former Flutterwave employee and the Pan African fintech Flutterwave, ruling in favor of Flutterwave.
The court’s decision comes after Odero, former Head of Implementation for the Rest of Africa at Flutterwave, filed a lawsuit against her previous employer, accusing the company of negligence and causing emotional distress and reputational damage.

According to Odero, since her resignation from Flutterwave in 2018, the company failed to delete her contact details from its M-Pesa Paybill account which had lead to unwanted associations with fraudulent activities and numerous unwanted calls.
Odera had also accused Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola of bullying and harassment during her time at the company, which led her to quit the job.
Following her accusations, Odero requested $900,000 in compensation, however, the lower court’s initial ruling granted her only Ksh. 250,000 which wqs approximately $2,500, which was a lot lesser than what she hoped to get as compensation and deemed the amount insufficient for all her troubles, leading her to appeal the decision.
According to a statement, in response to her accusations, Flutterwave had acknowledged a delay in updating Odero’s contact details and in apologising for the delay, proposed to settle the matter amicably without further litigation.
However, the company denied Odero accusation against Olugbenga, stating, “As an organisation that continuously strives to create an environment where employees feel secure and safe, we take the recent allegations of bullying from a former employee very seriously. We categorically state that there is no place for bullying or harassment of any kind in our workplace.”
Justice Alexander Muasya recently ruled that the damages awarded to Odero, would be capped at Ksh. 250,000, as initially determined by the Magistrate.
In his September 27, 2024 ruling, Justice Muasya stated that he saw no reason to overturn the Magistrate’s decision, citing a lack of evidence supporting Odero’s claim of reputational damage. He deemed the awarded sum reasonable.
Muasya, said “the award in damages was capped at Ksh. 250,000 by the Magistrate. I do not find reason to disturb his finding considering that there was no proof of loss of reputation. The sum was reasonable.”
The Judge added that Odero inability to provide supporting medical or independent evidence to lay her claims, led the court to conclude that there was no causal link between Flutterwave’s negligence and any harm to her reputation.
Therefore, the court of appeal in its final decision, upheld the lower court’s ruling awarding Odero with only $2,500 in compensation, stating that the damages awarded were sufficient for the emotional distress caused by the mix-up and dismissed her appeal in favor of Flutterwave.

Meanwhile, since Odero’s allegation against the Pan African fintech company, other former employees have come forward with similar accusations of bullying and misconduct within the company.