Acting Chief Justice Roxane George has ruled that the former Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority, Lelon Saul was wrongfully terminated by Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal in August 2020, weeks after the People’s Progressive Party Civic government took office.
Saul who had a three-year contract with the Central Housing and Planning Authority from 2020 – 2023, was terminated with one month’s notice.
His firing forced him to approach the Court seeking judicial review, and through Attorney Darren Wade, he argued that his termination was unlawful and was in breach of his contract of employment.
In her ruling, the Chief Justice stated that Mr. Saul’s case reached the threshold for a Judicial review, since among other things, he was employed by the Board of the CHPA and not the Minister.
She said it was the Board’s responsibility to terminate the CEO, and the Minister had no authority to terminate the CEO’s services. The Acting Chief Justice said if Saul’s service was no longer needed, the Minister could have advised the Board to take action.
“The termination of Mr. Saul by the Minister was outside of his authority. Therefore, the application to strike out Mr. Saul’s application is refused and his claim that the Minister terminated unlawfully has merit,” the Chief Justice said in her ruling.
She ordered that all monetary benefits which were entitled to Mr. Saul for the 29 months he had remaining on his contract be paid to him. The Attorney General was also ordered to pay costs to Mr. Saul.
In an invited comment, Saul welcomed the ruling of the Court and said it justifies his position that he was wrongfully terminated.
“I am deeply gratified by the ruling of the Chief Justice Madame Roxane George, which has confirmed that my dismissal from the Central Housing and Planning Authority was wrongful. This judgement, not only vindicates my position but also reinforces, the importance of fairness , due process and the rule of law in our society,” Saul told News Source.
Meanwhile, the Court ruled against an application brought by three former Regional Executive Officers who were also fired by the Government.
The former REOs of Regions 2, 3 and 5 had also complained that their contracts were wrongfully terminated.
The Acting Chief Justice said there was nothing unlawful about the termination of the former REOs, particularly because it was in line with their contracts where one month’s notice is required.
She said in the termination letters, none of the former REOs were accused of misconduct in office which could have been a ground to challenge their termination.
The Judge noted that based on their contracts, both parties were required to give one month’s notice when services were no longer required or when they were leaving the job.
“In this regard, the termination was pursuant to their contracts, as such the application of the AG to struct out their application has merit,” Acting Chief Justice George stated.
The former REOs were ordered to pay the State costs in the sum of $150,000 each.
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