UAE: Resident loses Dh930,000 case she filed against company after getting fired

A bank employee — who demanded Dh932,000 from her former employer after losing her job and failing to get a promotion — has had her lawsuit dismissed.

The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation upheld earlier rulings that rejected the woman’s lawsuit for her failure to follow the proper procedure in filing the case.

The Arab woman took her case up in the civil court, saying she suffered material and moral damages over her "arbitrary dismissal from work and for not receiving any promotion".

She explained that she joined the bank as a contact team leader and worked for many years, but her pay was lower than what her colleagues were getting. She argued that all of them were at the same level, doing the same job.

The plaintiff pointed out that she had previously filed a labour case, demanding her entitlements from her employer. She said she was arbitrarily dismissed from work after filing the lawsuit against the bank. This prompted her to seek compensation for the material and moral damages she incurred as a result.

Both the Abu Dhabi first instance and appeals courts had earlier dismissed the employee's claim for compensation for not following the proper procedure in filing the case.

The Court of Cassation judge said in its ruling that according to Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on employee/employer relations, "if the employer or employee has encountered any disputes, they must submit the complaint or matter to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, which shall look into the case and take what it deems necessary to settle the dispute between them amicably".

If the amicable settlement fails, the ministry would then refer the dispute to the court. The top court said this procedure was not followed by the employee.

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