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Chief Court Reporter

African Sun Limited has lost a legal fight to recover the company’s top-of-the-range vehicle from an employee who wants to be paid her retrenchment package and pension benefits first before surrendering the vehicle.

Ms Mildred Zulu, a former general manager, was retrenched in September 2020 and went away with the top-of-the-range vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner.

In a bid to recover its vehicle, African Sun, one of the country’s leading hotel groups, sued Ms Zulu at the High Court.

But Justice Gladys Mhuri threw out the application for summary judgment against Ms Zulu, finding that African Sun, still owes the former her retrenchment package and pension benefits.

She accepted Ms Zulu’s defence of set-off as plausible and genuine.

“Having found that the respondent (Ms Zulu) has managed to establish a defence of set-off, applicant’s (African Sun) application for summary judgment cannot be granted,” said Justice Mhuri.

“Accordingly, it is ordered that the application be and is hereby dismissed with costs on the ordinary scale.”