The Industrial Court has ruled in favor of Victoria University in a long-running dispute brought by former lecturer Mathias Bbaale, finding that his employment ended lawfully when his semester contract expired and that he had in fact worked as a part-time lecturer, not a full-time employee.The judgment, delivered on July 9, 2026, dismissed claims of wrongful and unfair termination, unpaid salary arrears, breach of contract, damages, and future earnings, after the court found that Bbaale failed to prove he was ever engaged on a full-time basis. The bench was led by Hon. Justice Linda Lillian Tumusiime Mugisha, with Hon. Rose Gidongo, Hon. Beatrice Achiro Okeny, and Hon. Charles Wacha Angulo sitting as panelists.According to court records, Bbaale told court that he had been appointed on October 6, 2014 under a two-year contract beginning January 19, 2015, with a monthly salary of Ugx. 3.2 million.He said that by March 2, 2016, he was verbally informed that he was no longer on the staff list, and later accused the university of confiscating his appointment letter and arresting him on forgery allegations.He claimed his salary arrears had reached Ugx. 50 million and sought compensation, damages, a certificate of service, and costs.Victoria University, however, insisted that he was only engaged as a part-time lecturer on an hourly rate of Ugx. 45,000, that he was paid honoraria, and that the work ended naturally at the close of the semester. The university also argued that the appointment letter he relied on was a forgery and that no full-time employer–employee relationship existed.In its analysis, the court said Bbaale’s conduct did not support his claim of being a full-time employee. It noted that he continued receiving part-time payments without raising formal complaints and that there was no evidence he demanded monthly salary payments or asserted his rights as a full-time lecturer. The court also found it unlikely that such a serious employment dispute would have been handled so informally if he had truly been on a permanent or full-time contract.Dr. David Byatike Matovu, the university council chairman, told court that full-time academic appointments were normally signed by the Director and Vice Chancellor, not the University Secretary, and said the letter relied on by Bbaale contained discrepancies consistent with forgery.The judges held that the burden of proof lay with Bbaale, especially since he alleged that the university had advertised for a full-time lecturer post in the New Vision newspaper, interviewed him, and appointed him to that role, yet he failed to produce convincing evidence of the advert, application, or genuine appointment letter.The court concluded that Bbaale had worked as a part-time lecturer based on hours worked and semester-by-semester engagement, even in the absence of a written contract.It therefore held that the non-renewal of the semester contract was not termination in the legal sense, but simply the expiry of a fixed-term arrangement.On the forgery issue, the judges said the university was entitled to hand the matter over to police as a criminal complaint and could not be blamed for refusing to renew a contract that had already expired. Because of that, the court found the termination lawful both procedurally and substantively under the Employment Act.It dismissed the claim for salary arrears, saying the evidence showed that he had been fully paid for the part-time work he performed, and it rejected the demand for future earnings because the contract had already ended by time, making that claim unsustainable.The court did, however, grant his request for a certificate of service, and it refused to award costs to either side, noting that labour disputes do not automatically attract costs unless there is clear misconduct or frivolous litigation.The post Zero Payout: Ex-Victoria University Lecturer Loses Out After Bitter Contract Dispute appeared first on Business Focus.