CCJ dismisses appeal, gives guidance on unfair dismissal in Barbados

The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by a Barbados-based fast food restaurant against an employee who was dismissed in 2014, while partly allowing the appeal against compensation.

The CCJ, which is the island’s highest court, ruled also that Chefette Restaurants Limited pay 75 per cent of the costs incurred by the respondent, Orlando Harris.

Harris was dismissed on January 27, 2014 from his position as an assistant manager with Chefette after he was blamed for failing to follow cash handling procedures, resulting in the misappropriation of a BDS$40 cheque of another manager.

The Court heard that prior to his dismissal, he was invited to three meetings with senior managers of the company and that after the first meeting, he was suspended without pay pending further investigation. But he was dismissed after he did not attend the third meeting.

The Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) found that Harris had been unfairly dismissed, as the procedure detailed in the Employment Rights Act of 2012 was not followed by Chefette.

As a result, the ERT awarded Harris BDS$106,630.01 in compensation inclusive of 27 months compensation for lost wages. The Court of Appeal upheld the finding of unfair dismissal but deducted the amount that Harris had been given as vacation pay and payment in lieu of notice.

The Court of Appeal adjusted the award to BDS$$95,089.13.

But in its appeal, Chefette argued that the Court of Appeal had erred in upholding the decision of the ERT that Harris had been unfairly dismissed.

However, the CCJ found that Chefette had failed to follow the required legal procedure, which was designed to ensure due process, by not informing Harris of the accusation against him and giving him an opportunity to respond.

The CCJ ruled that Harris’ dismissal was unfair and it also considered the substantive fairness of the decision to dismiss the former employee.

The Court said that although purely academic, this will provide guidance on the interpretation of the Act for future cases.

The CCJ found that the compensation for an unfairly dismissed employee provides for a basic award, an award for benefits that the employee may have expected had it not been for the dismissal, and a punitive award if the dismissal was for certain reasons identified in the Act.

The Court also found that the basic award includes compensation for past services as well as for wages lost as a result of the dismissal, and as such there is no need for a separate award for lost wages. The punitive award was not applicable to this case and Harris had not provided any evidence of expected benefits.

As a result, the CCJ reduced the award of compensation to the amount of the basic award of BDS$31,274.78. In addition, the CCJ held that Harris was entitled to retain the money paid to him as salary in lieu of notice and vacation pay which sum amounted to a further BDS$11,540.88.

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