{"id":15189,"date":"2017-07-19T18:24:37","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T18:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=15189"},"modified":"2017-07-19T18:24:37","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T18:24:37","slug":"ex-workers-sue-batn-insurance-board-for-unlawful-disengagement-after-tobacco-poison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=15189","title":{"rendered":"EX-WORKERS SUE BATN, INSURANCE BOARD FOR UNLAWFUL DISENGAGEMENT AFTER TOBACCO POISON"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">Four former employees of the British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) sacked for medical redundancy have taken the company before a National Industrial Court seeking a declaration that their sack was unlawful.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Timothy Makinde, Ayodeji Da Silva, Taofeek Alabi, and Ayodele Awe are claiming N50 million each as general damages for the company&#8217;s refusal to follow the procedure for &#8216;Disengagement of Medical Grounds&#8217; as stipulated in the Employee Handbook and Employee\u2019s Compensation act.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">They are also seeking, as alternative claims, the sums of N39 million, N48 million, N34 million, and N32 million respectively as special damages.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Joined as defendants in the suit before Ibadan Division of the National Industrial Court is the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund Management Board.<\/p>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Mr. Makinde, 34, who was employed in 2004 as a Manufacturing Assistant was disengaged in 2016 after he was diagnosed with Osteoarthritis, a medical condition that causes pain and stiffness at the joints.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Before his employment at BATN, Mr. Makinde was made to undergo a mandatory medical test at the Lagoon Hospital, Apapa, Lagos, where he was certified fit.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He said he never had any medical history of Ostheoarthritis; adding that in the course of discharging his duties as a manufacturing assistant in the company\u2019s Secondary Manufacturing Department, he was made to manually load, regularly, the cigarette trolleys which weighed 70 kilogrammes.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The employee also said the company forced him to work him to work a 12-hour shift arrangement for six days of the week.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI was not given any sick leave prior to the termination of my employment on \u2018medical grounds,\u2019\u201d Mr. Makinde stated in his witness deposition before the court.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThere was no medical examination conducted on me by a team of assessors which composition should be: company medical advisor, my physician, and an independent occupation health physician.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For Mr. Da Silva, who was employed in 2006 as a Technical Trainee, his job description included manual checking of tobacco and filter, running of machine for 12 hours, and manual blowing and cleaning of tobacco dust.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=13764&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">It also included removal and carrying of launch belt and a large fan weighing 100kg and 60kg respectively during maintenance as well as clearing of tobacco blockage among others.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But in 2011, during the company\u2019s periodic sports week, he sustained a knee injury during a football game which was left untreated for weeks because the medical personnel said he needed to get the approval of management.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">By the time he was instructed to go to a hospital, both knees had become swollen and an arthroscopy surgery performed in 2013 showed he had a cruciate ligament damage (exterior and posterior) that would require serious physiotherapy and knee filling.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Mr. Da Silva said BATN abandoned him at the hospital for weeks and he ended up paying N85,000 for his treatment before returning to work.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cOn the 24<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0of January, 2014, while I was on night duty and on the way from the human resources manager\u2019s office, I fell down on the staircase due to a weak knee,\u201d Mr. Da Silva stated.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Ignoring medical suggestions that Mr. Da Silva be re-assigned to a department which will not require him to stand for long periods, BATN terminated his employment in October 2016.<\/p>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Like Mr. Da Silva, Mr. Alabi was also employed as a Technical Trainee in 2004 and, according to him, BATN failed to put in place appropriate safety measures at the workplace causing the staff to work without a standard noise mask, professional safety boot<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">As a result of the defects, Mr. Alabi said after ten years of exposure to tobacco dust, machine vibrations, laser fumes, noise and carrying heavy equipment; he developed cervical and lumbar spondylosis.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI noticed that I couldn\u2019t turn my neck again, I started having pains whenever my neck is turned,\u201d said Mr. Alabi, 41.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe pain increases day by day till a Sunday, the 8<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0of February, 2014, when I left for one of the company\u2019s hospital (Tobi Hospital) on BATN list at Felele, Ibadan. Some drugs were prescribed, e.g. tramadol, di-clofenac and the likes.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cOn administering the drugs, it was as if it was the drugs that put the pains on my neck, but after completing the dosage, I started feeling the pain again. I went back to the same hospital on the 15<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0day of February, 2014, and all the drugs were repeated, but this time around there was no effect of those drugs on the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Despite visiting many hospitals and seeing several doctors, Mr. Alabi said his condition did not improve.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">On May 5<sup>th<\/sup>, 2016, he received a letter from BATN terminating his employment.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/TOBACCO.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-15190\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/TOBACCO-280x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/TOBACCO-280x300.png 280w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/TOBACCO.png 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 280px) 100vw, 280px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Mr. Awe, who was employed in 2003, worked as a machine operator where he packed cigarettes into packets, cleaned machines using compressed air, used of silicon spray, as well as exposed to heat when the chiller was down. He said he worked for over five years on the production floor without standard work gears.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_203853226\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Four years later<\/span><\/span>, he developed chronic asthma and high blood pressure, conditions that were alien to him as he passed the company\u2019s pre-employment medical tests.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cDomestically and environmental wise, I dare not move near the kitchen whenever my wife is frying or cooking because of the smoke and heat,\u201d said Mr. Awe, a father of three.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI used to be an active football player, I dare not play ball for five minutes, my breathing will change, I am an endowed singer, today I can\u2019t sing even in church again my breathing will change. I am not normal again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Four former employees of the British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) sacked for medical redundancy have taken the company before a National Industrial Court seeking a declaration that their sack was unlawful. Timothy Makinde, Ayodeji Da Silva, Taofeek Alabi, and Ayodele Awe are claiming N50 million each as general damages for the company&#8217;s refusal to follow [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/TOBACCO.png","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-3WZ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15191,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15189\/revisions\/15191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}