The High Court in Accra has dismissed the sexual harassment case brought against First Atlantic Bank by a former National Service personnel, Deborah Sayram Adablah.
Ms Adablah had alleged sexual harassment against the bank and its former Chief Finance Officer, Ernest Kwasi Nimako.
Presiding over the case, Justice Olivia Obeng Owusu ruled in favour of First Atlantic Bank, striking their name from the lawsuit. The court also ordered Adablah, the plaintiff, to pay GHc6,000 as compensation to the bank. Initially, the bank’s lawyers had requested GHc50,000, while Adablah offered GHc5,000.
The legal battle unfolded when Adablah accused Ernest Kwasi Nimako, the former Chief Finance Officer, and the bank of sexual harassment. The bank’s legal representatives moved to have the bank’s name removed from the case, which was successfully granted by Justice Olivia Obeng Owusu.
Following the dismissal of the bank from the case, Adablah’s lawyers filed a motion on June 15, 2023, to set aside the court’s ruling and requested an execution order for the preservation of a vehicle, which was one of the subject matters in dispute.
On a separate front, lawyers representing Kwasi Nimako lodged a contempt case against Adablah for certain publications made after the court had ordered both parties to refrain from making public statements related to the case.
The background of the case reveals that Adablah, as the plaintiff, filed a writ alleging sexual harassment against Ernest Kwesi Nimako, the former Chief Finance Officer, and First Atlantic Bank. In response, the bank sought to withdraw its name from the lawsuit, claiming that certain paragraphs of the writ did not present a reasonable cause of action against them.
The court’s decision to dismiss the case against First Atlantic Bank and the former Chief Finance Officer will now allow the substantive case alleging sexual harassment against Kwasi Nimako to be addressed.
