The National Industrial Court in Lagos has ordered Exxon Mobil Corporation and Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited to pay Mr. James Ebede $387,280 in damages, after ruling that his 2018 retirement amounted to constructive dismissal. The judgment was delivered by Justice Rabiu Gwandu of the Lagos Judicial Division.
Justice Gwandu held that Mr. Ebede had successfully proved he was victimised and unfairly treated by the multinational oil company. The court also found that ExxonMobil withheld his personal belongings, shipped from Dubai, and ordered the company to pay him $387,280—the insured value of the possessions—within seven days.
However, the court rejected Mr. Ebede’s additional claim of ₦114.9 million (about 32 months’ salary) for alleged forceful retirement, ruling that the demand was unclear and lacked sufficient evidence.
In his submissions, Mr. Ebede told the court that he was pressured into resigning by Exxon Mobil Corporation and Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited following harassment while on secondment with Exxon Mobil Iraqi Limited. He alleged that upon his return to Nigeria, the companies deliberately withheld his shipping documents and refused to clear his belongings, preventing him from producing further evidence to support his case.
ExxonMobil, in its defence, argued that Mr. Ebede’s contract of employment was strictly with Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, not the parent company. The firm contended that he had wrongly assumed the two entities were the same and insisted that the suit disclosed no reasonable cause of action against Exxon Mobil Corporation.
Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited also maintained that Mr. Ebede had signed an indemnity certificate in April 2018, acknowledging full and final settlement of his retirement benefits. It argued that this barred him from pursuing further claims and urged the court to dismiss the case.
Justice Gwandu dismissed these arguments, ruling that actions carried out by officers, servants and agents of a company are attributable to the company itself. He further noted that Mr. Ebede’s employment documents clearly bore ExxonMobil’s name, stating:
“The court does not need a magnifying glass to see that the name Exxon Mobil stands advertised on his letter of employment like the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour.”
The judge also emphasised that the companies had not denied the allegation of forced retirement contained in Mr. Ebede’s protest letter, which he held was sufficient to establish constructive dismissal.
“From the evidence before me, I hereby find and hold that the actions and inactions of the defendants that led to his protested retirement amounted to constructive dismissal,” Justice Gwandu declared.
