Former General Manager of the National Communications Network (NCN) Enrico Woolford, has won a $7m lawsuit he had filed against the state-owned media entity which he had said owed him gratuity payment for some three years.
In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, High Court Judge Jo-Ann Barlow, who found that NCN was obligated to pay Woolford his due entitlement under the contract of employment, awarded him an additional two million dollars in costs.
The Judge found among other things, that in accordance with the terms of Woolford’s employment contract, he was entitled to the full $7,796,687 claimed in his action which she said was in fact an undertaking given by NCN.
In her judgment seen by this newspaper, Justice Barlow said that the evidence presented at trial clearly illustrated from correspondence dated September 25th, 2020; NCN (the Defendant), acknowledging its obligation and to paying the owed sums in instalments commencing September 30th, 2020.
“The Defendant, whether because of impecuniosity or ill-will chose not to honour its financial obligations…as promised,” the Judge noted.
She said that confronted with Woolford’s subsequent lawsuit, the NCN, “in an attempt to sidestep its financial obligations to the Claimant, invented a number of claims that were all rejected by the Court.”
The Judge said that NCN, through its witnesses, “presented what appears to border on the fanciful and strains the credulity of the Court in its reception and analysis of the evidence proffered.”
The Judge said the Court needed to register its disappointment that witnesses for the Defendant were unable to be forthright with the Court.
On this point she said that NCN persisted with the defence of the action “even at the expense of having its employees give conflicting and at times unbelievable testimony to avoid its financial commitment to the Claimant.”
Ruling in favour of Woolford, Justice Barlow said he had satisfied the Court on a balance of probability that he is in fact entitled to the sums presented to him in the e-mail of September 25th, 2020 and that payment was due to commence five days later.
Against that background, the Judge has ordered that NCN pay to Woolford the sum of $7,796 687 in fulfilment of its obligations to him, with interest to be paid on the sum at a rate of 6% per annum from January 11th, 2021 to the date of judgment and 4% per annum until fully paid.
It had been NCN’s contention that Woolford was not entitled to the relief sought, as he had breached his contract; and for which it counterclaimed for damages in excess of $25,000,000.
The media entity’s complaint was that Woolford had falsely obtained money in the form of salary and allowances for what it claimed was unauthorized absence from work, for unauthorized overseas trips and for double claiming for two days’ salary allowances after he would have been paid by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) for sick days.
The Court found from the evidence presented, however, that none of these claims bore any merit and could not be supported by the evidence; and in fact, that at all material times, Woolford was entitled to the payments he claimed.
The Court stressed that this was an obligation to him from NCN which it knew full well.
Background
In his fixed date application, Woolford had said that he served as NCN’s general manager from April 1st, 2018 to July 31st, 2020 when both he and the Company opted not to have his contract renewed.
He said that it was, however, a term of his contract that he would be entitled to the payment of vacation allowance, annual /vacation leave and gratuity and once each was not paid when they became due, that they must be paid as accrued.
In his affidavit of January 8th, 2021, Woolford had said that during his employment, he was unable to exhaust all of his contractual benefits and that at the date of effective termination he became entitled to the accrued benefits.
He said he has accrued vacation allowance for the period January 1st, 2019 to July 31st, 2020 and accrued 2018/2019 annual/vacation leave of 18 days. He said he also has accrued 2019 annual/vacation leave of 30 days and 15 days for 2020.
Meanwhile, he said that his accrued gratuity is for the first 12 days of April 2018, July 1st to December 31st of the same year, all of 2019 and again from January 1st, to July 31st of 2020—altogether amounting to a total of $7,796,688.
According to Woolford, despite repeated promises to pay in installments which should have commenced on September 30th of 2020, he never received a penny of his benefits from NCN.
Through his attorney Eusi Anderson, Woolford said that he is entitled by contract and law to his benefits and ought to have been paid at the date of termination, while arguing that there is no excuse in law for the Company’s repeated failure to pay.
He has always been of the view that the Company has no defence to his action.
Woolford had said that NCN’s refusal to honour its contractual obligations has caused him loss, suffering, hardship and “resulted in me being unable to seize opportunities.”
