Fired John Prince rehired

Thanks to an order from the court, Prince will walk into the Authority’s offices at Boundary Road in San Juan and sit in the chair he once occupied for two years before he was kicked out.

Madame Justice Maureen Rajnauth-Lee, presiding in the Port-of-Spain High Court, granted an injunction against the Authority and ordered that Prince return to his job this morning.

Prince was represented by Pamela Elder SC, Ken Wright and Richard Mason while Seenath Jairam SC and Dharmendra Punwasee appeared for the Telecommunications Authority.

After the judge’s oral judgment yesterday, Jairam told the court that his client intends to appeal and asked for a stay of the court order. But Justice Rajnauth-Lee ruled against it and said her order remains.

The case now goes for trial and costs will be determined at the conclusion of the entire case. Prince was seconded from the Public Service on July 1, 2004 to be executive director of the Telecommunications Authority for a maximum period of five years, in accordance with the Telecommunications Act 2001.

However, he was sent on leave on May 31 and the authority’s deputy director Chris Seecharan was appointed to act as executive director. Prince’s contract was unceremoniously terminated on June 30, although he indicated that it was not due to end before June 30, 2009.

It was then that Prince filed a writ in the Port-of-Spain High Court for breach of contract. Following yesterday’s judgment, an elated Prince emerged from the Hall of Justice with his team of lawyers.

He said, “this victory is not mine, but that of my attorney and God. I am not hesitant in returning to work tomorrow. I hope no one has to go through what I went through over the past four months. It was a trying time for me,” Prince added.

Attorney Elder said justice had been served and that she was very happy that her client succeeded and would be back on the job today.

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"Fired John Prince rehired"

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