Why Court Ordered Safaricom to Pay Visually Impaired Job Applicant Sh6 Million

The High Court in Nairobi has ruled that Safaricom PLC violated the rights of a visually impaired job applicant after inviting him for an interview without the necessary software to evaluate him fairly.

The court found that the company’s actions breached his rights to dignity, equality, and fair administrative action, and ordered the telecommunications firm to pay him KSh6 million in compensation.

The case was filed by Wilson Macharia, who had applied for a Customer Experience Executive position and was shortlisted alongside other candidates with disabilities.

Although he could not take the SHL Computerized aptitude test due to his visual impairment, Safaricom informed him that it would arrange a workaround so he could proceed with the recruitment process.

He later underwent a medical test and subsequently received a letter in September 2017 confirming that he had been selected for the position. He was instructed to report to Eldoret for an eight-week induction beginning mid-September that year.

However, Safaricom later withdrew the job offer.

The company said the offer had been issued in error and argued that Macharia had not completed the full interview and assessment process, including the technical and oral tests.

It also explained that it could not integrate its customer service systems with the necessary assistive software without creating operational conflicts.

Macharia told the court that he had been treated differently from other visually impaired candidates and that the withdrawal of the job offer humiliated him and violated his rights.

He claimed the company’s conduct amounted to discrimination and breached several constitutional provisions as well as the Persons with Disabilities Act and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The court examined the sequence of events and found that Safaricom had indeed violated Macharia’s right to be treated with dignity. Justice J.A.

Makau noted that the candidate was invited for evaluation even though the company knew it lacked the tools needed to assess him, placing him in a prolonged and uncertain process.

The judge found that this failure to provide reasonable accommodation undermined the applicant’s dignity and did not meet the standards of fairness expected under Article 47 of the Constitution.

Although the court held that the denial of the job opportunity did not constitute discrimination as defined under the Persons with Disabilities Act, it concluded that Macharia’s constitutional rights to dignity and fair administrative action had been violated.

Justice Makau awarded him KSh6 million as compensation and ordered Safaricom to pay the costs of the petition, with interest accruing from the date of the judgment.

The ruling underscores the responsibility of employers to ensure their recruitment processes are accessible to all candidates and highlights the legal requirement to provide reasonable accommodation to persons with disabilities during hiring.