Hundreds of employees working for Tekleberhan Ambaye Construction Plc (TACON) and its subsidiary, Edna Mall, should be paid compensation for "unlawful" terminations of employment, a Judge at the Federal First Instance Court ruled.

The Judge has ordered that close to 200 of these employees should be recompensed for annual leaves not taken, unpaid monthly salaries, and a three-month severance payment. The ruling was made in April 2022, four months after Edna Mall employees took the case to court, challenging their employer in absentia. The employees have lost their jobs after the property on Cameroon Street, across from Bole Medhanialem Cathedral, was auctioned by the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), which held it against a loan advanced to TACON.

CBE's management sealed several parts of the Mall, including movie theatres, an amusement centre, and administrative offices in early December last year. The measure left close to 300 Edna Mall employees out of a job. Employees claim the Mall's management did not give them advance notice before the closure of the building, which was acquired by East Steel Plc, a Chinese industrialist.

Incorporated in 2014 with 279 million Br in equity, East Steel operates in the Eastern Industry Zone in Dukem, 35Km southeast of Addis Abeba. It took possession of the landmark property after offering 810 million Br during an auction held in July 2021 – over three times the floor price.

The following year, 185 aggrieved workers organised under seven groups took their misgivings to the Federal First Instance Court, second Bole District Bench. Abate Abebe, a father of two, was one of these employees aggrieved from a sudden job loss.

Abate worked at Edna Mall as a security personnel for seven years, earning a gross salary of 3,500 Br. Judges awarded him 22,000 Br in compensation. However, he says he is not "contented" with the ruling.

“I remain unemployed,” he told Fortune. “I should be compensated for the losses I've been having until now.”

More displeasure might be in store of employees like Abate. The ruling does not necessarily mean workers will be compensated right away, according to Wabi Haji, a lawyer representing the employees.

“The defendants are not responding to court summons," said the plaintiff's lawyer. "The compensation must come from the money kept under the defendants' accounts."

Before passing the ruling, Judge Eyerusalem Fantabel ordered the CBE to freeze funds under the accounts opened by the defendants.