The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) continues to rack up unnecessary debts as they now have to pay an estimated TT$1.5M in damages, out of which middle order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan will receive approximately TT$1M.
Sarwan was awarded this figure after winning his arbitration matter against the WICB after he was cleared of all charges levelled against him by WICB, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ernest Hilaire regarding his fitness and attitude by Arbitrator Seenath Jairam SC, LLM. The Arbitrator found the WICB guilty of breaching the selection process by not undertaking the process in a fair and transparent manner; publicly denigrating and humiliating Ramnaresh Sarwan; failing to comply with the appraisal process and breaching the principles of natural justice by failing to give Sarwan an opportunity to be heard.
They ruled that the above caused Sarwan significant losses and damages. In addition to these damages, 85 per cent of the cost of conducting the arbitration proceedings also have to be paid by the WICB which works out to be additional estimated TT$0.5M.
In total the Sarwan affair has cost the board an estimated TT$1.5M.
This development comes on the heels of the US$161,000 scheduling award to West Indies Players Association (WIPA) on behalf of its members over various breaches of contract. So, in the past 12 months alone, the WICB has lost over an estimated US$2.5M in very difficult financial times, when sponsorship for their major events have not been coming forward. The ruling was based largely on the WICB’s failure to adhere to basic principles of natural justice and of blatantly ignoring the terms of the agreements with the players and their association, WIPA.
In reviewing the ruling and documents, the WICB and Hilaire, did not attempt to resolve the issues through good faith negotiations or even mediation. The first letter in the proceedings was written on January 11, 2010; the Notice of Dispute sent to the WICB on September 30, 2010 and the hearing was held September, 2011.
Accordingly, it is clear that there was adequate time to discuss and resolve this matter but the WICB did not.
The records show that Hilaire wrote to WIPA on December 6, 2010 stating that the WICB submitted its request to mediate the issue. However, inquiries to the Dispute Resolution Center in Trinidad (DRC) by WIPA revealed that this was not done until December 13, 2010. As a consequence, the DRC became unavailable and WIPA referred the matter to Arbitration.
In his 131 page judgement, SC Jairam awarded Sarwan damages for:
(a) Loss of retainer;
(b) Breach of contract (re: failure to ensure fair and transparent selection process for denigration of the Claimant);
(c) Loss of provident fund contributions given his age;
(d) Loss of publicity/reputation;
(e) General damages;
(f) Interest on the damages awarded at a rate of 12 per cent per annum from the date of the award until payment.
The WICB was represented by Derek Ali, while WIPA was represented by Ms. Donna Symmonds, Denise Haynes, Sushilla Jadoonanan and fomer WIPA President and CEO Dinanath Ramnarine.
