SIMPSON BAY--Simpson Bay Resort (former Pelican Resort) workers were dealt a blow on Friday when the appeals court declared their legal victory against Simpson Bay Resort Management Company (SBRMC) of February 8 null and void.
The verdict means SBRMC is no longer obligated to continue paying salaries to 182 workers it has been attempting to dismiss. Neither does it need to adhere any longer to the collective labour agreement (CLA) with Windward Island Federation of Labour (WIFOL), the union that represented the workers in the case.
The workers were sent home on Friday afternoon and told they could resume their employment if they signed new contracts with the company (see related story).
WIFOL attorney Wim van Sambeek called the move by the company and its lawyer Jairo Bloem "despicable."
"It is against all good employment standards to do something like this while you know the verdict is based on human error," said Van Sambeek.
The lawyer explained that SBRMC had appealed the decision of the Court of First Instance on April 1, giving WIFOL's legal team three weeks to prepare a statement of defence. This meant that the statement had to be submitted by April 22 at the latest.
However, because April 22 was Good Friday, a public holiday, and April 25 was Easter Monday, legally WIFOL had until April 26, the next available working day, to submit the relevant documents. But the court did not recognize April 22 and 25 as official holidays in its ruling, which meant the statement of defence was declared inadmissible because, in the opinion of the three presiding judges, it had been submitted too late. Therefore they based their ruling solely on SBRMC's petition.
Van Sambeek said the judges had committed a "legal blooper," because in accordance with the National Ordinance of March 15, 2001, Article 3, subsections 1c and 1d, both Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays.
Van Sambeek said he had sent a letter to the Joint Court on Friday requesting an immediate rectification of this error by the court.
Van Sambeek said WIFOL also would file an injunction today, Saturday, to ensure SBRMC will not take any actions to the detriment of the workers and their families before the legal error has been rectified and this case has been settled on appeal.
SBRMC General Manager Jules James and attorney Bloem were unavailable for comment on Friday. The company had scheduled a press conference for yesterday afternoon, but cancelled it later.
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