The Supreme Court has upheld judgments by the Labor Tribunal and High Court to reinstate and compensate 10 court administrators dismissed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) five years ago after a staff evaluation.
JSC decided to evaluate the quality of work of court administrators in 2019. Ten employees who failed to earn a minimum score were sacked as part of the effort in mid-2020.
The dismissed employees included the administrators of the High Court, Criminal Court, Family Court and seven magistrate courts. The Employment Tribunal ruled in their favour when they challenged the fairness and legality of the dismissals.
When JSC appealed the decision, the High Court also ruled that the dismissals had been unlawful and upheld the tribunal’s order for their reinstatement. But JSC appealed again to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled against JSC on Sunday in a unanimous judgment by the justices who heard the appeal. JSC’s grounds for dismissing the 10 administrators were unlawful, the judgment stated.
A decision by the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) to reinstate one of the 10 sacked administrators was cited as one of the main reasons for the judgment in their favour. DJA does not have the discretion to reinstate a particular employee, the court’s judgment stated.
The backpay owed to the highest-paid of the employees amounts to nearly MVR 24,000 a month as salary and allowances. The lowest-paid employees earned MVR 16,000 a month. Based on the lowest pay, the state would have to pay more than MVR 7 million to the 10 employees.
