Ian Jones was appointed as the Director of Sports for the National Sports Council in March 2017, under the Barrow Administration. But, 7News has learned that he intends to sue the Briceno Government for breach of contract and wrongful termination.
His attorney, OJ Elrington, has written a lawyer letter to the Attorney General, the Minister of Sports, and the Chairman of the National Sports Council. In it, Elrington says that according to Jones, his client, his superiors at the Council informed him in a meeting on November 20th, 2020 that he was being terminated. The purported reason for this termination was his political opinions.
The issue is that Jones signed a written contract with the Government of Belize and the National Sports Council on July 29th, 2020, which says that he was supposed to serve as Director from May 2020 to May 2022. Elrington declares that this is not Jones's first fixed-term contract and that Clause 7 provided that the contract may be terminated by the government with the MUTUAL AGREEMENT of the parties. From Elrington's perspective, that means that Jones has to consent to the termination.
The letter goes on to say, quote, "Your actions, therefore, amount to wrongful termination, a breach of contract, and a breach of the constitutional rights of my client. We are therefore demanding $186,115 dollars as payment for salary and gratuity for the full remaining two years of his contract, and damages for breach of his constitutional rights. We are hereby giving you 7 days to contact us and make arrangements for payment." End quote.
We understand that Jones' attorneys have written multiple times to the National Sports Council, which has not responded to any of those letters. We are told that this dispute may end up in the Supreme Court if the matter isn't amicably resolved.
Jones freely concedes that he is a UDP but says constitution should protect him from political victimisation.
