The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Industrial Tribunal ordered the British Colonial Hotel to pay a woman $6,399.49 after finding that she was wrongfully dismissed and deserved additional vacation pay and accrued Christmas bonus.

However, the Tribunal rejected the woman’s more substantial unfair dismissal claim, ruling that she did not establish her claim.

Ultimately, Ethlyn Ferguson was awarded far less than the $98,410.44 she sought, money that would have covered notice and severance pay, unpaid salary during a lay-off period, pension, accrued vacation pay, accrued Christmas bonus, and ham and turkey vouchers.

Ms Ferguson claimed she was employed as a banquet waitress with the hotel around December 2004, earning a weekly $210 salary. The hotel claimed her employment started on May 22, 2011.

Industrial Tribunal Vice President Ingrid Cooper-Brooks sided with the applicant on this point, noting that the woman’s employment was continuous from December 2004 to June 2020, even though the respondent argued that she was employed with the British Colonial Hilton Hotel in 2004 and transferred to the British Colonial Development Company Ltd in 2011.

Hotel Director of Operations Lynne Johnson said in her witness statement that Ms Ferguson was laid off because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The judge noted that a termination could be wrongful if notice or payment in lieu of notice is not given to an employee. She noted that the employer did not offer to pay Ms Ferguson for the full 26 weeks’ notice and redundancy payment until January 22, 2022, “almost two years after the applicant’s redundancy”.

“The Tribunal accordingly finds on the facts and law that the applicant was wrongfully dismissed in the circumstances, having regard to Section 26B (2)(a) of the Employment (Amendment) Act, 2017,” the ruling said.

Ms Ferguson was awarded $5,623.80, including an interest rate of three per cent for the “almost two years” delay period.

The judge further found that the applicant was entitled to $546 for accrued vacation pay and $229.69 for accrued Christmas bonus.

The judge did not award her vacation pay, pension, accrued Christmas bonus, ham and turkey vouchers for the seven years from 2004 to 2011, finding the applicant did not establish a claim for these given that they are statute-barred according to Section 5 of the Limitation Act.

Ms Ferguson argued her dismissal was unfair because the respondent did not follow proper redundancy procedures, such as notifying and consulting the trade union and the minister of labour. She claimed $40k for unfair dismissal.

The judge, however, accepted the respondent’s position that letters addressed to the union and minister of labour were notification of the impending redundancies.

“The Tribunal accordingly finds on the facts and law that the respondent had complied with the mandatory requirements for redundancy consultation and notice to the union and the minister of labour,” the judge wrote.