School uniform costs dad his job

A school uniform cost a father the job he had held for 15 years.

Simon Ramapuputla‚ a shop steward at safety equipment supplier G Fox & Co‚ colluded with his child’s school to submit an inflated quote for the uniform‚ a court in Johannesburg has found.

Instead of claiming R627‚ Ramapuputla asked the company’s skills equity committee — of which he was a member — for R3‚500.

Employees at Bidserv Industrial Products‚ which owns G Fox‚ have access to bursaries for school fees and other expenses.

Ramapuputla was fired for dishonesty and went to the Commission for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration‚ which said dismissal was too harsh in light of the employee’s clean record.

Bidserv appealed‚ and Judge Violet Phatshoane found in its favour last week (Jan 10) in the Labour Appeal Court.

The judge was critical of Ramapuputla and Lota Mahlabane‚ deputy principal of Mmutle Combined School in Mpumalanga‚ saying “the contradictions and obfuscations apparent in their evidence are significant”.

She added: “Mahlabane’s logic or lack thereof in explaining why the school issued a quotation to Ramapuputla is telling. His evidence was correctly rejected by the (CCMA) commissioner as resembling a bad storyline in a movie.

“The probabilities are overwhelming against Ramapuputla that he knowingly‚ in collaboration with his cohorts at the school‚ submitted a false quotation.

“The fact that he was a shop steward who had to be exemplary to other employees aggravates his misconduct. He also did not show any contrition.”

- TMG Digital/The Times