The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Lagos Division, has ruled that the mass disengagement of some former employees of United Bank for Africa (UBA) amounted to constructive dismissal, ordering the bank to liquidate their outstanding personal loans through insurance proceeds.
Justice Ikechi Gerald Nweneka delivered the judgment on Thursday, November 13, 2025, in Suit No. NICN/LA/286/2020, filed by over 20 former staff members of the bank against UBA Plc.
In his ruling, the judge held that the claimants were unlawfully forced out of their employment, describing their exit as constructive dismissal.
He ruled that the claimants successfully proved that they were compelled to resign under circumstances that made continued employment impossible.
However, the court dismissed the claim that the loans granted to the affected workers between August and December 2019 were exploitative or oppressive, holding that the facilities were validly issued and not unconscionable.
On the fate of the loans following the sack, Justice Nweneka ordered UBA to activate the insurance cover attached to the loan facilities to offset the outstanding balances.
He ruled that since the employees lost their jobs involuntarily, it would be unjust to burden them with repayment.
The court declined the request for payment of salaries from the date of dismissal to the date of judgment, stressing that an employee whose contract has been terminated cannot claim wages for work not performed.
Justice Nweneka also rejected the N400 million claim for breach of contract and wrongful termination, noting that the claimants had already been paid their terminal benefits, including salaries in lieu of notice, and that no evidence was presented to show errors in the computation of those benefits.
On allegations that UBA failed to remit National Housing Fund deductions, the court ruled that the claimants failed to specifically plead and prove the deductions, describing it as a special damages claim that lacked sufficient evidence.
The court, however, ruled in favour of the former employees on the issue of employment references, ordering UBA to provide work references for the claimants, having determined that their loans would be settled through insurance.
Claims for N10 million in damages for defamation and N10 million as cost of action were dismissed, but the court awarded N750,000 against the bank as cost, stating that costs generally follow the outcome of litigation.
In its final decision, the court granted some of the reliefs sought by the claimants while dismissing others.
The judgment followed a case filed in 2020, in which the affected workers accused UBA of orchestrating a mass sack after granting them loans, allegedly to recover funds that would have been due to them as terminal benefits.
They claimed they were compelled to resign after their employment had already been terminated, a move they said was intended to deny them full benefits.
