Fifteen years on, former manager Maurice Arjoon is still engaged in a court battle for severance and other benefits owed by the New Building Society (NBS) which has been found to have wrongfully dismissed him back in 2007.
Following the conclusion of a lengthy High Court trial, the hearing of a summons before a single judge in Chamber at the Court of Appeal and a dramatic attempt four years ago to levy on the Society’s assets to satisfy judgments awarded to him, Arjoon has now found himself defending his claim against the NBS before the full Bench of the appellate court.
At a hearing on Monday morning, his attorney Edward Luckhoo SC, vehemently argued that no evidence had been presented to substantiate that his client had committed any misconduct and should not have been dismissed.
Upon this central premise, counsel advanced that the finding by the High Court that his client was wrongfully dismissed and is therefore entitled to the full award of almost $80 million in damages ought to stand.
After his trial ended at the High Court in 2017, the financial institution had said it would have honoured whatever final judgment was awarded to Arjoon. The financial institution, however, quickly did an about-face.
Stepping back on its word, the Society would eventually renew its argument that the dismissed manager was fully responsible for his termination and partly for losses the bank suffered, amounting to more than $70M.
The bank is currently challenging a ruling Justice of Appeal, Rishi Persaud had made back in December of 2017, ordering that Arjoon be paid pension to the tune of $59,033,281 owed to him. It was only after the successful execution of a levy a month later, that the mortgage lending institution wrote Arjoon a cheque for that payment in full.
This sum was part of the more than $79M which had been earlier awarded to Arjoon by High Court judge, Brassington Reynolds, who ruled that he was “wrongfully dismissed,” and entitled to be compensated accordingly for severance benefits, pension and loss of earnings.
A computation from estimates submitted by attorneys on both sides pegged the total award of damages at $79,282,801 which Justice Reynolds granted on July 20th of 2017.
Justice Persaud, however, stayed the remaining $20,249,801 which was awarded to the sacked manager for severance.
Among the grounds on which it appealed the High Court ruling, the Society termed Justice Reynolds’ decision erroneous, arguing that pension could not be awarded together with severance and other benefits, when an employee is terminated or dismissed.
In its challenge to the Full Bench of the Court of Appeal—comprising acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards, Justice Franklyn Holder and Justice Persaud—NBS (the Appellant) is arguing among other things, that the $59,033,281 is not now due to Arjoon, (Respon-dent), for pension, even on the premise that he is entitled to it for his service to the bank.
At the hearing on Monday morning, Luckhoo argued that the central issue in the case is whether his client complied with the bank’s regulations for effecting the withdrawal in question, given that the holder of the account in question from which certain withdrawals were made, was overseas at the time.
He argued that in answer to the question of whether the transaction amounted to misconduct on Arjoon’s part; there is no evidence from the Society to so substantiate, though that has been its contention.
Luckhoo said that in fact, the evidence before the court from the bank’s own auditor and other employees who testified at the trial, has been that the former manager complied with every regulation he ought to have followed as well as his subordinates.
The lawyer said, too, that the power-of-attorney of the account holder—Bibi Khan—by which the withdrawal was authorized, was found to have been valid as reflected by the records of the Deeds Registry.
He said that though Khan had visited the bank and merely said that she did not authorize that withdrawals, there has been no evidence before the court that it was not her who had authorized the withdrawals.
Luckhoo held to his position that in the absence of any evidence of misconduct, the dismissal of his client remains unjustified as had been found by Justice Reynolds.
“The transaction was legitimate and all the procedures were followed,” he asserted.
Luckhoo will continue his arguments on March 1st after which attorney for the Society, Pauline Chase will present her submissions.
Arjoon is being represented by Luckhoo, along with Senior Counsel Robin Stoby and attorney Eleanor Luckhoo. Meanwhile, the Society is being represented by attorney Pauline Chase, in association with Senior Counsel Ashton Chase.
In its challenge to the High Court ruling, NBS had argued among other things, that on the basis of the trial judge’s conclusion that Arjoon was “wrongfully dismissed,” he was not entitled to severance pay by virtue of his status and contracts and according to the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act.
It said too, that pension, which the court also awarded, could not be granted in conjunction with severance or any other benefit related to termination or dismissal, and that the judge did not give due attention to the relevant parts affecting Arjoon’s conduct in the NBS rules, the systems manual, the pension rules and the contract signed by him.
Additionally, the NBS had advanced that the overriding defaults in the respondent’s dealing with the withdrawals from the account of Khan were not taken into account by the judge nor did he consider that the person making the withdrawals from the account was not duly and properly authorised to do so, thereby causing NBS a loss of over $79 million.
In his judgment, Justice Reynolds had said that the Court found no evidence to substantiate NBS’ claims that Arjoon committed gross or serious misconduct, warranting his dismissal. The judge had said that it showed no established rules, standards or procedures which Arjoon was guilty of breaching.
On June 12th, 2007, Arjoon and two other managers, Kent Vincent, Operations Manager, and Kissoon Baldeo, Assistant Mortgage Manager, had their services terminated after $69 million was discovered missing from the account of Bibi Khan.
Arjoon was interdicted from duty before being dismissed. The trio, along with several other employees of the bank, were charged in the matter but they were later freed after Khan repeatedly failed to attend court hearings.
After the charge against him was thrown out, Arjoon subsequently filed the lawsuit against the Society, for wrongful dismissal.
Late Ombudsman Justice Winston Moore had concluded that the three managers suffered a “grave injustice” as he found that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that the trio was guilty, let alone to successfully prosecute them.
