(NAIROBI, KENYA) – A former Diamond Trust Bank manager has lost a court bid to challenge her dismissal through a constitutional petition after the Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled she used the wrong legal route. Salimah Pirbhai had sued the bank in January 2026, claiming its investigation into suspected irregular transactions crossed from workplace discipline into her private and family life.
The court struck out the case, finding that Ms Pirbhai should have filed an ordinary employment claim under the Employment Act rather than a constitutional petition. The ruling did not address the truth of her allegations or whether the bank followed a fair disciplinary process.
Ms Pirbhai was terminated in October 2025. At the time, she was earning a monthly salary of KES 649,900 ($5,060 / £3,950). She sought general and aggravated damages, compensation equal to 12 months’ gross salary, KES 193,218 ($1,500 / £1,170) that she said had been unlawfully deducted from her terminal dues, unpaid leave days, costs and interest.
The legal dispute followed investigations into suspected fraudulent dealings and irregular banking transactions at DTB’s Parklands branch. DTB told the court that the investigations, suspension, disciplinary proceedings and dismissal were connected to those transactions.
Ms Pirbhai said her problems began after she reported concerns about suspicious withdrawals from a dead customer’s account. She alleged that senior executives repeatedly summoned her to informal meetings outside official premises and normal working hours, including meetings at Ole Sereni and Serena hotels, without notice of purpose or procedural safeguards. She said this exposed her to fear, uncertainty and psychological pressure.
According to her affidavit, she was subjected to intimidation, coercion, threats of arrest and threats to damage her reputation. She also alleged pressure to change her account of events and sign statements favourable to the bank.
Ms Pirbhai told the court that DTB summoned her brother to an off site meeting on 15th August 2025, allegedly to exert indirect pressure on her. She said the conduct brought workplace allegations into her family life and caused emotional distress and damage to family relationships. She argued that this raised a constitutional issue because Article 31 protects privacy and the Employment Act does not authorise employers to intrude into family relationships.
DTB disputed that position. The bank argued that the petition merely repackaged an ordinary employment dispute as a constitutional case. It said investigations, suspension, disciplinary proceedings and dismissal were governed by the Employment Act. The bank’s advocate said all the allegations arose directly from the employment relationship and internal disciplinary processes.
The bank also said allegations of confinement, confiscation of Ms Pirbhai’s mobile phone, intimidation and deprivation of liberty were disputed facts unsupported by contemporary documentary, electronic, medical or independent evidence.
Justice Jemimah Keli agreed with the bank on the question of the proper forum for resolving the dispute. The judge found that the grievances, including the alleged privacy violation, were tied to the employment dispute and could be addressed under the statutory employment framework. Justice Keli said the matter ought to have been filed as an ordinary claim rather than a constitutional petition.
The ruling did not determine whether allegations such as intimidation and threats of arrest, pressure to alter her account, off site meetings outside working hours, and the summoning of her brother were true. The court also did not determine whether DTB followed a fair disciplinary process.
In June this year, Ms Pirbhai and two other people were presented at the criminal court in Milimani, Nairobi and charged with 68 counts linked to alleged theft, conspiracy, money laundering and forgery involving more than KES 149.3 million ($1.16 million / £0.91 million). They denied the charges. The prosecution alleged that funds were fraudulently withdrawn from a British pounds account belonging to a bank customer between 2016 and 2020. The criminal allegations remain unproved.