Forget outstanding legal action against dismissed Sport Company of T&T (SporTT) employees and pay them.
That was advice given yesterday to the management by Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus and Independent Senator David Small. Both were among members of a Joint Select Committee (JSC) who questioned SporTT officials at Parliament. Questions were posed on the recommendations of the 2014 Auditor General’s report regarding the Special purpose company of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs.
The issue of 2011 dismissals at SporTT was raised by JSC member and Public Utilities Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, who said The Edge consultancy firm was contracted for $1.06 million to review human resource issues at SporTT. Some 32 members of staff, including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) were dismissed. The matter went to court and while SporTT offered no defence, lawyers’ fee amounted $137,000, Hinds noted.
JSC member PNM Senator Foster Cummings noted several staffers took legal action for compensation with total settlements of about $2.5 million. He noted one former employee who worked less than one day received $90,000 for unfair dismissal.
SporTT legal officer Naveen Maraj explained the court had ruled the employees’ retrenchment was harsh and oppressive and the $90,000 settlement was on that basis.
Maraj said there were two outstanding cases and SporTT is in negotiations with unions on these matters which involve sums of $119,000 and approximately $845,000. But Maraj said there are legal issues and the matters that will be sent to the Recognition Board and an Industrial Relations consultant will be brought in to assist SporTT.
Baptiste-Primus said the 2011 dismissal “frolic” cost taxpayers almost $3 million to date. She advised SporTT to consider its direction in challenging the two matters and obtaining an IR consultant for this. She said they should give the workers their just due and abandon that direction.
“I strongly advise SporTT, don’t pursue that direction and prevent employees from getting what is theirs,” she added.
JSC’s Small said rather than pay an IR consultant and going to the Industrial Court on further challenges, SporTT should call in the former employees, settle the matter and avoid paying more.
“Such situations affect the company’s reputation,” Small pointed out.
SporTT chairman Michael Phillips—appointed in December 2015—who described the JSC experience as his “baptism of fire,” said T&T has more sport seating capacity per-capital than anywhere else globally. He said the facilities are $3 billion worth of assets.
Phillips said T&T could either “dynamite” some facilities or use them. He said T&T didn’t have annual events like “Superbowl”, which justified construction of all these facilties, and now has to create content for it. He said sports competed with Carnival for funding and space.
Acting Sport Ministry permanent secretary Ian Ramdhani who said he’d had opportunity to examine some questionable issues during the LifeSport programme’s tenure, said many corrective measures have been instituted. He said manipulation by junior staff has been fixed and they no longer have authority to sign matters, which was done at the time. He said proper records are also being maintained.
JSC members were critical of some responses which they deemed, “weak, watery, unpersuasive, unconvincing and troubling.” JSC member Dr Tim Gopeesingh told Phillips at one point, he was “beating around the bush.”
Chairman of the JSC Wade Mark started the meeting by asking Phillips how many of the 14 recommendations outlined in the Auditor’s General Report to SporTT that has been acted upon.
Mark, who was visibly not satisfied with the chairman’s response, moved on to other aspects of the report. The grilling lasted for over two hours.