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Ngobeni v A.I.S. Redding S.C. NO and Another (JR398/07) [2008] ZALC 89 (27 June 2008)

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IN THE LABOUR COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA

HELD AT JOHANNESBURG


JR 398/07

In the matter between:


DR ENOCK NGOBENI APPLICANT


and


A.I.S. REDDING S.C. (N.O.) FIRST RESPONDENT


MSD (PTY) LTD SECOND RESPONDENT

JUDGMENT


Introduction


  1. This application seeks to have a ruling dated 31 October 2006 issued by the first respondent in a private arbitration in terms of the Arbitration Act number 42 of 1965 reviewed and set aside. Further, the applicant seeks a declarator that the arbitration agreement concluded by the parties herein does not preclude the applicant from raising a claim based upon a contravention of section 3 of the Protected Disclosures Act number 26 of 2000 (“the PDA”). There are further alternative prayers. The application was opposed by the second respondent in whose favour the award was issued.


  1. The arbitration ruling was issued on 31 October 2006 but was received by the applicant on 1 November 2006. The review application was filed on 21 February 2007, which period was way beyond the reasonable period of 6 weeks within which the review application ought to have been delivered. The applicant has filed a Condonation application. An address from the bar by counsel for the second respondent was the only opposition to the condonation application.


Background facts


  1. The applicant was in the employ of the second respondent (“the employer”) as a Medical Manager. According to the employer an offensive e-mail was circulated to the employer’s worldwide employees on 21 October 2005. The applicant considered the contents of the e-mail to be false, completely unjustified and damaging to the reputation of its Managing Director and its Medical Director. The employer took the position that the circulation was done by the applicant and its Managing Director instructed the applicant via a Mr A Botha, the IT Manager, to recall the message. According to the employer, the applicant refused to recall the message but instead it was recalled by Mr Botha. The employer avers that the applicant sent the same message to its worldwide employers from his private e-mail address. The employer decided to charge the applicant with three acts of misconduct described as:


    1. Sent an offensive e-mail to MSD worldwide;

    2. Refusing to obey a lawful and reasonable instruction from the MD to recall the message and,

    3. Improperly copied the second respondent’s global e-mail address book from MSD’s system and sent the same offensive e-mail from his private e-mail address.


  1. The applicant was found to have committed the acts of misconduct with which he was charged and he was dismissed on 6 November 2005. He lodged an internal appeal. The parties agreed that the unfair dismissal dispute of the applicant was to be referred to arbitration in terms of the Arbitration Act. They then concluded an arbitration agreement which was reduced into writing. The first respondent was then appointed. On 30 June 2006 the parties convened a pre-arbitration meeting and produced minutes thereof. The arbitration hearing commenced on 10 July 2006 and both parties were legally represented. The applicant had been legally represented at the pre-arbitration meeting as well.


  1. At the arbitration, the first respondent raised the issue whether or not it was competent of him to award solatium constituting the claim of the applicant. It was agreed that the issue would be dealt with by the parties during their arguments. The second respondent was to begin with the calling of its witness and first called and led the evidence of its MD. The matter was adjourned to allow cross-examination proceed on the next date.


  1. The proceedings were resumed on 31 October 2006. Even before cross-examination started, the applicant’s representative indicated that the applicant would rely on a breach of the provisions of the PDA. Representatives of the parties, made their submissions on the issue and the first respondent made a ruling that his terms of reference did not include the determination of an automatically unfair dismissal arising out of an alleged breach of the Protected Disclosure Act. It is that finding which is the subject of the present review application.


The arbitration agreement


  1. The written agreement concluded by the parties as constituting the arbitration agreement had various clauses which include clauses 2, 3, 5.1, 5.5, and 8.2 with the following provisions:-


Clause 2: Terms of reference

The arbitrator shall determine whether the dismissal of Ngobeni was substantively and/or procedurally unfair.


Clause 3: Powers of the arbitrator

In determining the issue in paragraph 2 above the arbitrator shall have the same powers as if he/she were a commissioner of the CCMA.



Clause 5.1:

The parties undertake to hold a pre-arbitration meeting on a date to be agreed between the parties. Ngobeni undertakes to prepare the pre-arbitration minute.



Clause 5.5:

The arbitrator has the widest discretion and powers allowed by the law to ensure the just, expeditious, economical and final determination of the dispute raised in the proceedings



Clause 8.1: Review

The arbitrator’s award shall be rational and justifiable in relation to the reasons given for the award and in relation to the evidence presented to the arbitrator.


Clause 8.2:

In the event that either party wishes to review the arbitration award, it shall be entitled to do so on the basis set out in section 145 of the LRA and the award shall for all intents and purposes be treated as if it was an award made by a Commissioner of the CCMA.”


  1. The pre-arbitration minute outlines facts which are common cause but the applicant was to revert to the second respondent on facts that were in dispute. He did so later. It was felt that disputed facts were too numerous to list. The minute outlines the issues to be decided and the precise relief in the following terms:


Issues to be decided


The parties agree that the issues to be decided are whether the applicant’s dismissal was procedurally and substantively fair.


The respondent asked the applicant the grounds upon which he alleges that his dismissal was substantively and procedurally unfair. On substantive fairness the applicant contends that the sanction was too harsh. As regards the other grounds upon which the applicant intends relying, he will revert to the respondent.


The applicant contends that his dismissal was substantively unfair on the following grounds:

  1. The applicant denies that he committed any misconduct.

  2. In the event that it is found that he did commit a misconduct (which is denied) then it will be argued that the sanction to dismiss was unduly harsh in the circumstances.


Precise Relief claimed


The applicant seeks reinstatement with back pay limited to 2 months’ remuneration plus costs. In addition the applicant claims a solatium based on contumelia.


The respondent asked the amount of the solatium claimed. The applicant will revert to the respondent in this regard.


The applicant reverted to the respondent to inform the respondent that he would claim a solatium in the amount of approximately R1 million.


The chief findings of the first respondent



Grounds for Review


  1. The submission was that the first respondent:-

(i) Failed to apply his mind to paragraph 4 of the pre-arbitration agreement, to the surrounding circumstances and to the subsequent conduct of the parties in determining his jurisdiction and what the parties had intended;

(ii) Committed a material misdirection by not hearing evidence when there was a factual dispute before him on the ambit of his powers;

(iii) Misdirected himself materially by failing to consider clause 5 of the pre-arbitration minute with the claim of a solatium;

(iv) Misdirected himself materially in taking into account what powers he had in order to determine his jurisdiction. He took into account an irrelevant consideration, having already found that jurisdiction and powers were separate concepts. He should have considered that the arbitration before him was under the Arbitration Act and not the Labour Relations Act. He should have applied the Arbitration Act to determine what issues he could or could not arbitrate. The Labour Relations Act was only relevant to his powers to decide what relief he could grant to a party;

(v) Committed a material misdirection in holding that his terms of reference did not include the determination of an automatically unfair dismissal and so prevented the applicant from putting forward his case;

(vi) Materially ignored relevant considerations relating to the conduct of the parties more particularly the contents of the pre-arbitration minute which identified the relief claimed and left it open to the applicant to indicate what grounds he relied upon in challenging the substantive fairness of his dismissal.


Alternative relief


  1. In so far as the court finds that the arbitrator’s award is reviewable, the applicant seeks a declaratory relief to the effect that the arbitrator’s ruling does not preclude him from referring a dispute about an automatically unfair dismissal to the CCMA. As an alternative and only if the court finds that the arbitration agreement precludes him from even raising an automatically unfair dismissal before the CCMA, then he seeks an order permitting him, on good cause, to resile from the arbitration agreement and to pursue an automatically unfair dismissal claim in the CCMA. He further seeks an order remitting the matter to the parties to appoint a different arbitrator and if they are unable so to agree, to permit the chairman of the Bar Council of the Johannesburg Bar to appoint an arbitrator.


The version of the second respondent


  1. The review application is fatally defective and should be dismissed for that reason alone in that:






  1. The second respondent proceeded to respond to the individual allegations made by the applicant. The view I have of this matter makes it unnecessary that I should set out each of such submissions.


The submission on behalf of the parties


  1. The submissions made by Mr Boda who appeared on behalf of the applicant are essentially that:-













  1. In opposing the application, Mr Ngcukaitobi appearing for the second respondent submitted that:






Gross irregularity or exceeding powers




The power given to the arbitrator was to interpret the contract rightly or wrongly; to determine the applicable law, rightly or wrongly; and to determine what evidence was admissible, rightly or wrongly.” – See Telecordia Technologies Inc v Telkom SA Ltd 2007 (3) SA 266 (SCA).”


On the facts










Analysis


  1. As already indicated the review application is to be considered together with a condonation application. The issues between the parties have not yet been resolved as the arbitration hearing had just commenced. An approach which will tend to provide future guidance of the parties will be followed in the disposal of the pertinent issues.


  1. In respect of a condonation application, the approach to be adopted is well settled. The approach followed in Moila v Shai NO & Others [2007] 28 ILJ 1028 (LAC) by the learned Zondo JP is appropriate in the present matter. He had the following to say:


(34) “……… where, in an application for condonation, the delay is excessive and no explanation has been given for that delay or an explanation has been given but such ‘explanation‘ amounts to no explanation at all, I do not think that it is necessary to consider the prospects of success.


(35) In Melane v Santam Insurance Co Ltd 1962 2 (4) SA 531 (A) at 532 C-F Holmes JA set out the factors that need to be taken in to account in considering an application for condonation where sufficient cause – which is the same as good cause – must be shown before condonation can be granted. One of the principles he set out is that, although the factors he set out therein are interrelated and are not individually decisive, if there are no prospects of success there would be no point in granting condonation…”


  1. An unacceptable explanation for the delay remains just that, whatever the prospects of success on the merits – See Chetty v Law Society, Transvaal 1985 (2) SA 785.


  1. The explanation proferred for the delay must now be considered. In doing so, I take note that the applicant received the arbitration ruling on 1 November 2006. Six weeks would expire around 18 December 2006. The review application was filed on 21 January 2007. There is therefore a period of about 8 weeks that the review application was delayed for. The delay appears to have been occasioned in the main, by legal representatives of the applicant. The explanation is that the applicant approached three advocates, each of whom could not timeously give him the assistance he needed in processing the review application. What is more disturbing is that no confirmatory affidavits were filed from these advocates which fact waters down the very explanation sought to be made for the delay. There are unexplained periods such as the period 13 December 2006 to 14 January 2007, when it was said that the instructing attorney spoke to a certain Advocate Fourie, as neither of his other standing counsel were available. As Advocate Fourie was unavailable, he referred the instructing attorney to Advocate Venter. The e-mail of 21 December 2006 by Advocate Venter explains only a short period when he needed to scrutinise the paper and study relevant law. That the offices of the applicant’s attorney were closed during 15 December 2006 to 15 January 2007, appears irrelevant as he was briefing counsel for the applicant during the same period. By 12 January 2007 the necessary documents for the review application had not been drafted. So nothing much had been achieved and a brief had to be retrieved from Advocate Venter. The explanation for the period 14 January to 13 February 207 is far from being satisfactory when seen against the papers that were subsequently filed. The applicant has not taken this court into his confidence on the explanation proferred. As these are material periods for which no explanation was given, the explanation is not acceptable. On this basis alone I am prepared to dismiss the two applications.


  1. However even as I consider the prospects of success, it seems to me that there are no prospects of success in this matter. The submissions made by Mr Ngcutaitobi persuaded me into accepting that the first respondent committed no reviewable defect. There is no allegation made in the papers that the first respondent misconducted himself in relation to his duties as an arbitrator. The “material misdirections” referred to in the papers by the applicant are not the misconduct. The decision in the case of Hyperchemicals International (Pty) Ltd and Another v Maybaker Agrichem & Another 1992 (1) SA 89 (W) is apposite. In page 97 lines C-E the following appear:


‘ “As I read Dickenson & Brown v Fisher’s Executors 1915 AD 165, the misconduct which entitles a Court to set aside the award of an arbitrator must amount to dishonesty. I think that is the true reading of the judgment…………Now Dickenson and Brown v Fisher’s Executors is express authority for the proposition that a mistake made by an arbitrator, either by fact or of law, is no ground for interfering with an arbitrator’s award, and unless I misunderstood that judgment, so long as a mistake is bona fide, it does not matter whether it is gross mistake or a slight mistake, in either there is no foundation for this Court’s jurisdiction to interfere with the award and set it aside.” ‘


  1. In the present matter, no case of an act of dishonesty has been made out against the first respondent. Nor are the grounds outlined by the applicant related to the other grounds provided by the Arbitration Act as explained in Dickenson’s case.


  1. Further, it is ludicrous to submit that the pretrial agreement between the parties entitled the applicant to enlarge upon the substantive fairness of the dismissal even after the hearing had commenced in this case. The first witness of the second respondent had completed or was about to complete his evidence in chief. In fact the matter was postponed on the understanding that cross-examination was to commence when the matter resumed. It could not reasonably be argued that at that stage the second respondent would be a party in an agreement to enlarge the substantive fairness of the dismissal. That approach would probably have prejudicial effects on how the second respondent was to run its case. The applicant failed to timeously outline his reliance on the Protected Disclosures Act so that the second respondent would be enabled to deal with that issue through its first witness, If it chose so to do. Accordingly, in my view there never was an express or tacit agreement to enlarge the ambit of the scope of the matters in dispute. The decision in Cone Textile (Pty) Ltd v Ayres and Another 1980 (4) SA (ZAD) is of no assistance to the applicant in this regard.


  1. It remains open to the applicant, at his discretion to refer a dispute pertaining to a breach of the Protected Disclosures Act to an appropriate forum. In my view he does not need a declarator from this court.


  1. Accordingly, the applicant has not shown any prospects of success which when weighted against a not so good explanation, would justify the granting of the condonation application. It must follow then that the condonation for the late filing of the review application should not be granted.


  1. The following order will therefore issue:


  1. The application for condonation is dismissed.

  2. The review application is dismissed.

  3. The matter is remitted to the first respondent who is to enable the parties to proceed with the arbitration hearing in this matter.

  4. The applicant is to pay costs of the condonation and the review applications.



________

Cele AJ


APPEARANCES:


For the Applicant: Adv F A Boda instructed by S S Jugwanth Attorneys

For the Respondent: Adv T Ngcukaitobi instructed by Bowman Gilfillan


Date of Judgment: 27 June 2008


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