‘Sham retrenchment’ costs DHL $2.3M

The manager with 14 years service at DHL contended her dismissal on March 13, 2013 was part of a “dastardly scheme to get rid of her” and was heartless as she, at the time, was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder because of her husband’s brutal killing five years before.

The worker’s case was argued in the Industrial Court by attorney Michael Quamina on behalf of the Communication Workers Union which filed a trade dispute in the court.

In yesterday’s ruling, Industrial Court judge Melvin Daniel held that the court considered the worker’s retrenchment to be a “sham” and described her dismissal as “egregious”.

According to the trade dispute, the worker was employed with DHL Express TT since 1999 and was promoted to the position of District Manager British Caribbean in August 2012 with a base salary of $78,000.

She also received a housing allowance of $33,000 and car allowance of $12,400.

In November 2012, she fell ill and was diagnosed with PTSD, stemming from her husband’s murder in 2007.

By March 2013, she was fired purportedly as a consequence of her position being made redundant.

“The cold hard fact is that there was no redundancy and the company just wanted to rid themselves of a worker who may become a liability later on as a consequence of her illness,” Quamina argued.

In witness statements, she said she was dismissed while she was on a month’s sick leave and after informing the company that she had a health condition which required strong medication and time off.

Quamina argued that the company’s defence of a restructuring exercise was unbelievable and there was no evidence to support this claim.

No plan was produced in the proceedings.

He held that it was also inconsistent with a plan for redundancy since she was promoted to the position of District Manager a mere two months before the purported start of the restructuring exercise.

“How could it be fathomable that a company which is not a fly by night operation would less than one month later make this newly formulated position redundant?” Quamina asked