Friday 20 Mar 2026
Island Aviation Services (IAS) which operates the national airline, Maldivian, reported the highest percentile increase in net profit for Q1-2024. (Photo: Maldivian)
The Employment Tribunal has issued a decisive ruling against Island Aviation Services Ltd (IASL), ordering the reinstatement of a senior accounts coordinator who was dismissed over alleged financial misconduct during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tribunal found that the company failed to substantiate its claims of fraud regarding the misappropriation of business sales funds. Furthermore, the investigation process was deemed procedurally flawed. As a result, the Tribunal declared the termination unlawful, mandated the employee's return within one month, cancelled the company's financial recovery demands, and ordered payment of one year's salary as compensation for the wrongful dismissal.
The Employment Tribunal has ordered Island Aviation Services Ltd (IASL) to reinstate a long-serving employee who was dismissed over allegations of embezzling company funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, ruling that the termination was carried out without procedural fairness or substantive justification.
The case concerns a senior accounts coordinator who joined Island Aviation in 1993. He was suspended without pay in November 2020 pending an internal investigation and was formally dismissed in 2024.
According to the Tribunal report, Island Aviation’s internal audit accused the employee of neglecting and misusing funds collected from the company’s business sales. He was also alleged to have coordinated payments to Island Aviation in collaboration with a third‑party sales agent. The audit claimed he had failed to account for more than MVR 300,000 and USD 3,000, and the company sought to recover MVR 382,331 from him.
After his dismissal, the employee filed a case with the Tribunal. In a ruling issued in the first week of March, the Tribunal found that Island Aviation had not established due process or demonstrated substantive grounds for termination. It declared the dismissal unlawful and ordered the company to reinstate the employee within one month.
The Tribunal also ruled that the amount Island Aviation sought to recover from the employee was not owed. In addition, the company was ordered to pay him one year’s salary as compensation.
