In March of 2021, the Belize Tourism Board terminated former Director Karen Bevans and her almost 180 thousand dollar a year salary. The suggestion was that her contract - which still had 4 years on it - had not been properly entered into and was not valid.
Well, Bevans lawyered up - arguing that she was still owed about three quarter million dollars in salary under the Agreement.
Today, Justice Geneviève Chabot agreed, found that her employment contract was valid, and ordered the BTB to pay her, plus costs to her attorney Dean Barrow.
He said, that used on past experience of costly terminations, the BTB should have known better. Here's how he broke down the judgment this evening:
Dean Barrow, Attorney for Karen Bevans
"What the BTB was arguing was that this contract was not properly given. You know there were ramifications to this kind of argument, because the prime minister had said the same thing that Mrs. Bevans gave herself this contract. The board did not act properly as it were sanctioning the contract, the contract was therefore illegal. And in any event, even if the contract was Prima Facie valid, that clause in the contract that said if you dismiss me without cause you have to pay me for the expired portion of the contract. They said that's a penalty, that legally unenforceable. That is so unreasonable that no sensible institution would ever have included that in a contract of employment - completely ignoring the fact that for at least a decade the contracts for the directors of tourism as they were called, from Tracy Panton coming down. every single one of them had a contract with the very same clause. Furthermore, the senior managers of the BTB, going back historically also had a clause, that kind of a clause on their contracts including the current Minister of Tourism Anthony Mahler who when he was the director of finance at the BTB had a 3 year contract that contained the very same clause."
"As you know at the time when the UDP was in office, Mr. Mahler was terminated early and he sue and the then BTB settled, because they accepted that the contract said what it did."
"It therefore certainly befuddled me when they now raise this defence that such a clause is unenforceable and such a contract is unenforceable."
"All their arguments were completely rubbish and the judgement of Madam Justice Chebat is quite clear; they failed in every aspect of the defence they mounted, they failed in every aspect of the claim, the ancillary claim they mounted against Heredia, Eiley and Gomez with the result that judgement is ordered against them for the entirety of Mrs. Bevans' claim plus the cost and judgement is entered for the ancillary claimants with respect to the claim the BTB brought against them. That never involved any specified sum of money. The BTB was saying well you would have to pay us an amount to be assess or that the court could in fact determine. You'd also as I indicated contribute to whatever we have to pay Mrs. Bevans if it goes that far. Judge said all that is nonsense, that claim against those 3 are dismissed and costs must be paid to those 3 for their successful defence of the ancillary claim that the BTB brought against them."
Jules Vasquez
"So then the global figure for the BTB's total payout on this legal misadventure is close to a million dollars."
Dean Barrow, Attorney for Karen Bevans
"In deed, sir."
Reporter
"Against the backdrop of a previous suit that was brought against the government with respect of the defamation of Karen Bevans."
Dean Barrow, Attorney for Karen Bevans
"So, they paid dear for singling out Mrs. Bevans and going after her."
Jules Vasquez
"Could they not have simply sought a settlement, as I believe the UDP had done with the current Minister Anthony Mahler. They ended up paying $175,000. It seems like a very large figure at that time, but this is 5 times that. Could a settlement approach have costed them far less?"
Dean Barrow, Attorney for Karen Bevans
"Absolutely."
Along with a related defamation lawsuit against the prime minister plus exemplary damages - Bevans has collected close to a million dollars in legal awards stemming to mischief or misunderstanding over her contact.
So, will this one be appealed. Attorney for the BTB, Andrew Marshalleck says he needs to read the judgment first and all options will be considered.
