The Bargaining Council for the Cleaning Contract Industry has ruled against a Durban cleaner who claimed damages from her employer after she was stripped of her underwear by a security guard and forced to go home without it.
Mavis Mzobe, 45, works as a cleaner for Fedics, which is contracted to Ninian and Lester, a clothing and underwear manufacturer in Umgeni Road.
She had charged her employer with an unfair labour practice, including discrimination, defamation, victimisation and negligence.
Mzobe claimed that a Thekwini Security guard had asked her to remove her underwear at a security checkpoint. He had forced her to go home without it.
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Mzobe had been seeking damages, medical boarding and the return of the underwear. Her medical report stated that she had suffered "post traumatic stress disorder".
The council ruled that the dispute did not constitute an unfair labour practice in terms of the Labour Relations Act, and that it did not have the jurisdiction to hear the negligence claim.
Fedics denied it had acted negligently. The company said it had forwarded the grievance to its client, paid Mzobe's medical expenses, offered her counselling and the option of transferring to another contract.
Lee Thompson of Thekwini Security said the company was following Ninian and Lester's instructions to search employees to establish what underwear workers were wearing.
Mzobe now intends suing Ninian and Lester, Thekwini Security and Fedics in a civil court for damages and gross human rights abuse.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of The Mercury on July 22, 2004
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