Ellen Mkhize’s R328,000 Reinstatement Award Overturned by Labour Court

Ellen Mkhize’s victory in a workplace dismissal dispute has been overturned, sending her case back for another arbitration hearing. The Labour Court in Durban set aside an earlier ruling that had ordered AkzoNobel SA to reinstate her and pay R328,673.62, according to the judgment delivered on October 30. Mkhize worked as a transportation planner for the company from January 2014 until her dismissal in April 2024. The disciplinary case centred on an allegation that she secretly recorded a 2023 reconciliation meeting involving colleague Laura Moodley and other participants. The meeting had been arranged to address tensions between the two employees. AkzoNobel argued that the recording further damaged their working relationship and undermined efforts to resolve the conflict. The company also alleged that Mkhize played it to two managers in January 2024, later agreed to hand it over and then denied that it existed. Both managers told the proceedings they had heard the recording, while Moodley reportedly said she had also recorded the meeting without telling the others. Mkhize denied making a recording and accused the managers of lying about her. She asked for the audio to be played so she could hear it. An arbitrator had previously concluded that the employer did not prove its allegations, found her dismissal substantively unfair and ordered her reinstatement with back pay. The arbitrator also rejected the company’s claim that the employment relationship had irretrievably broken down. AkzoNobel challenged that outcome at the Labour Court. Judge Connie Prinsloo found that the arbitrator had not properly weighed the evidence, addressed conflicting accounts or applied the correct principles in deciding whether the dismissal was fair. The court did not decide the underlying allegations afresh; it referred the matter to the National Bargaining Council for the Chemical Industry for a new arbitration before a different commissioner. The report says the dispute began with a review application seeking to overturn the award issued on March 17, 2025.