Court upholds AATT’s dismissal of secretary

ALTHOUGH it was not spelt out in very precise terms, the message to employees from the Industrial Court is clear. If allegations of misconduct on the job are made against you, and your boss invites you to a meeting to discuss the allegations, no matter how you feel, it is in your own interest to attend the meeting. If you refuse to attend, you do so at your own peril. Winston Benn, secretary to the Airport Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (AATT) Board found this out, when the Court upheld a decision by his employer to dismiss him.

At the time of his dismissal, Benn had 12 years service with the Authority. The Managers and Supervisors Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MSA), took up the matter in court, on behalf of Benn. The facts as alleged by the Association are that on September 30, 1994, Calvin Bess, the then Personnel and Industrial Relations Manager of the Authority told the worker verbally that he was alleged to have committed acts, amounting to sexual harasssment. No particulars were given. The matter reached the General Manager, George Leid who told Benn about what was alleged in writing against him.

Benn requested details, but Leid refused to give them, saying that the complainant would not want the contents of the written allegations revealed. Benn was subsequently informed of the allegations of “gross sexual misconduct” and was suspended, pending completion of investigations. Benn was, on repeated occasions, invited to meetings to clarify the matter, but decided not to attend. The general manager later advised Benn that his failure to comply with legitimate instructions could result in disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal which actually happened.

The MSA’s case was that the dismissal was harsh and oppressive, and contrary to the principles of good industrial relations practices. But on the totality of the evidence, the court disagreed with the association. The court found that Benn’s failure to exploit the meetings to which he was invited, if only to clarify their true intent and to register his concerns, left the Authority with serious allegations of misconduct against him in the circumstances detailed in the letters to him, and the need to take such action as it considered necessary in the interest of the Authority and its employees. Accordingly, the dispute was  dismissed. Presiding over the court was Gregory Baker, who had with him,Vernon Ashby.