Bata Shoe Kenya has filed a lawsuit against an employment agency, seeking a Sh32.5 million refund.
The shoe maker alleges that the firm inflated workers’ wages through inflated bills.
Bata claims in court documents that between January 2017 and February 2019, H.R. Strategic Partners Ltd inflated wages.
Bata Shoe apparently engaged the services of an employment recruitment agency to provide manpower.
The shoemaker would pay a monthly fee of Sh417,000 regardless of the number of employees at the company.
The bills were supposed to be sent out every two weeks, and no payment was supposed to be made until the cost of labour was approved.
Bata, on the other hand, claims that an internal audit conducted in February 2019 indicated that it overpaid Sh32.5 million due to inflated invoicing. The corporation is now requesting a full refund, plus interest.
“The plaintiff further claims the right to trace the said sum of Kshs32,595,981 to the hands of the defendants, jointly and severally,” Bata says.
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The employment agency, as well as its directors, Moses Kinuthia and Teresia Wanjiru Njuguna, and their human resource assistant and financial managers, have been sued by Bata.
The shoemaker accuses the recruitment agency of inflating charges for employees hired in violation of a contract the two companies signed.
The Limuru-based firm further claims the agency concealed the situation and failed to properly document the workforce provided.
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