“…In any event the Bank did not offer the plaintiff any money as compensation for dismissal. He found himself obliged to sue, which he did immediately; and he had to wait here until his case was decided. One has to bear in mind that he was an alien in Nigeria, brought here as an employee of the Bank by leave of the Immigration Authorities, and that factor was overlooked by the trial judge when assessing the damages. It may be reasonable in the normal case to award damages on the basis of three months notice in the case of Nigerians dismissed by a bank: they can seek other employment, and they should; but an alien like the plaintiff is in a different position. There is no evidence on the possibility of his finding other employment and on the restrictions in that regard which apply to him as an alien; he was not cross-examined, and the Bank offered no evidence at all. The Bank by its unreasonable conduct having obliged the plaintiff to stay on for his case, cannot also complain that he did not minimise the damages. It is worth noting that the argument for the Bank on minimizing damages is confined to the plaintiff’s refusal to go to Beirut immediately. In the light of the above considerations, I am of opinion that the damages should include salary to the end of January, 1961-the judgment was given on the 27th January-plus salary for one more month thereafter to allow the plaintiff time to arrange for appeal against the judgment and return to Beirut and settle down there, plus salary for another three months in which to seek suitable employment-which means twelve months in all. Having regard to the circumstances of the case, I think that a year’s salary should have been awarded. I would allow the appeal and order- That the judgment of January 27, 1961, in the Lagos High Court Suit No. 180 of 1960, be and is hereby varied in the plaintiff’s favour by increasing the six hundred and eight pounds to fifteen hundred and eight pounds ( 1,508) as the amount payable by the defendants, with sixty guineas as costs of appeal to the plaintiff.”
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