The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Lagos division, has declared as arbitrary, unfair and wrongful the 2020 performance appraisal of a former Area Sales Manager of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Martins Itua Airekholo.
Justice Joyce A.O. Damachi, in a judgment delivered on August 12, 2026, however, upheld the legality of the claimant’s subsequent disengagement on grounds of redundancy.
Airekholo, whose employment with Nigerian Breweries spanned from January 26, 2007 to June 18, 2021, had challenged his “Partially Meets Expectations” rating in the company’s 2020 appraisal.
He had challenged that the rating was inconsistent with his actual performance and alleged that it was influenced by personal animosity from a Zonal Business Manager.
The claimant had told the court that he achieved an average performance of 111.2 per cent across key performance indicators, including 132 per cent in Delivery, 110 per cent in Volume Depletion, 104 per cent in Funding, 112 per cent in Heineken Volume Depletion and 98 per cent in Tiger Volume Depletion.
He further argued that the rating subsequently led to his placement on a three-month Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) before he was disengaged on redundancy grounds.
Nigerian Breweries, in its opposition to the suit however, maintained that the appraisal was conducted in accordance with its Talent Management Policy, which assessed employees based on both quantitative targets and qualitative leadership behaviour.
The company also argued that the redundancy was part of a genuine restructuring exercise conducted in consultation with the relevant trade unions.
It further contended that Airekholo was estopped from challenging his disengagement because he accepted redundancy benefits amounting to N17,179,073.30 million.
In resolving the appraisal dispute, Justice Damachi held that although employers generally have managerial prerogative to assess employees, such discretion is not absolute where contractual policies prescribe how performance should be evaluated.
The court found that the claimant’s documented KPI average of 111.2 per cent placed him within the “Outstanding” or “Exceeds Expectations” range.
It also noted that the claimant’s appraisal contained favourable comments from his Regional Business Manager, who commended his ability to unite his team, manage a major distributor and perform well despite COVID-19 and EndSARS-related challenges.
The court further faulted Nigerian Breweries for failing to produce minutes, reports or records of the alleged multi-layered calibration process said to have resulted in the downgrade.
Justice Damachi consequently declared the “Partially Meets Expectations”, “Developing or Not Always Meeting Expectations” and “At Career Level/Lateral Potential” ratings arbitrary, unfair and in breach of the company’s Talent Management Policy.
On the redundancy, however, the court found that the company complied with the key statutory requirements, including consultation with the relevant unions and payment of negotiated redundancy benefits.
The court therefore upheld the claimant’s disengagement, despite finding that the PIP was terminated prematurely.
Airekholo’s N1 billion damages claim was also dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence showing how the appraisal directly caused the alleged losses.
The court awarded him N500,000 as costs, payable within 30 days, failing which the sum will attract 10 per cent annual interest until fully liquidated.