……Faced with hefty legal bill
By FRANCIS JOSEPH
Colin Lucas, former Chief Executive Officer of the Port Authority, has lost his appeal regarding a contract which he says he got, but which the Port said was never approved.
Now Lucas is facing a hefty legal bill. The High Court had ordered him to pay more than $500,000 in costs. That bill is mounting after the Court of Appeal hearing.
THE FACTS
Colin Lucas had been employed with the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago since 1973. He began his career as a Junior Clerical Officer. Over the years he was consistently promoted, until the year 1999, when he was promoted to the post of General Manager.
By 2011 however, Lucas had left the Port and was engaged in employment in managerial and executive positions with various different organisations. In 2011, at the invitation of the Chairman of the Port Authority, Lucas accepted an offer of employment as Chief Executive Officer which took effect from March, 1, 2011.
His contract of employment was dated April 22, 2011 and it was agreed that the contract would be for a period of two years. It was also agreed under the Clause 15, of the contract that three months prior to the completion of the period of employment, Lucas would indicate whether or not he was interested in further employment.
If he so indicated, then under Clause 15, any offer of further employment would be “on such terms and for such period as may be mutually agreed” In keeping with Clause 15, Lucas informed Chairman, Joseph Toney by letter dated December 1, 2012 of his desire to continue being employed in his current position.
In response to Lucas’ letter, he was invited to a meeting with Toney. The meeting was held on January, 11, 2013. It was Lucas’ contention that on 11th January, 2013, Toney, in his capacity as Chairman, offered him a further term of employment.
The Port Authority however, has strongly denied that there had been any offer of future employment to Lucas.
Correspondence and exchanges served to shed light on the intention of the parties in the discussion on January 11, 2013. The last of these was a letter dated March 11, 2013 from Ms. Ford, the Senior Legal Officer of the Port Authority. She informed Lucas, that Toney was of the view that the discussions between Toney and Lucas were subject to approvals and not indicative of an agreed contract.
In that very letter, Ms. Ford asked Lucas to cease to report for duty. On May, 5, 2014, attorneys-at-law for Lucas sent a pre-action protocol letter. Lucas instituted proceedings on January, 11, 2017. The claim came up for trial in November, 2019. On May, 28, 2020, Madame Justice Margaret Mohammed dismissed Lucas’ claim and ordered him to pay budgeted costs in the sum of $519,630.00.
Justice Mohammed stated, “Therefore, I am of the opinion for the reasons set out aforesaid that based on the evidence and the contemporaneous documents after the January 2013 meeting, Mr. Toney’s actions were not indicative that he had entered into the 2013 contract with the Claimant at the said meeting.”
Lucas appealed, and on October 28, the Court of Appeal comprising Justices Prakash Moosai, Gillian Lucky, and Mira Dean-Armorer, dismissed the appeal. Justice Moosai said, “In our view, this appeal cries out for the exercise of appellate restraint. Judge’s decision was manifestly reasonable and could not be found to have been plainly wrong. The Appeal is accordingly dismissed. We will hear the parties on costs.”
Douglas Mendes SC, Michael Quamina instructed by Ms. G. Gellineau, appeared for Lucas. Russell Martineau SC led the team for the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago.
