Postby bluefete » November 10th, 2019, 10:15 pm
Randolphinshan; spannie, zoomie and company- allyuh hold this.
Now I see why the PM is trying so hard to keep this suppressed.
Exposed : Love Triangle From MSYA to Whitehall, Committee staged to fail
November 08, 2019
The full letter:
From Ian Ramdahin
Permanent Secretary (Ag)
To Maurice Suite
Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister
May 14th 2018
Inquiry into Sexual Harassment Allegations made against former Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs.
Reference is made to the Inquiry commissioned by the Honorable Prime Minister into the sexual harassment allegation made against the former Minister Darryl Smith when he was at the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs (MSYA) which is being conducted by an Independent Committee.
Please note that my interview was held with the said Committee on April 30th, 2018 at 10 30 am to provide information on what would have transpired during the period October 3rd, 2016 to January 6th, 2017 when I would have served as former acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry MSYA.
At the start of my interview, I would have observed that there were photocopies of loose documents on the table before the Committee members and I immediately asked “Does the Committee have the MSYA legal file on the subject matter?” and they all responded in the negative.
Having observed the Committee’s casualness about not having the main legal file before them to guide their inquiry I would have expressed my grave concern about “how could they possibly expect to conduct a proper and fair inquiry without first securing the original MYSA legal file?” given that it has all the pertinent information and records documenting my queries, concerns and the position I took in not signing off on a settlement proposal.
“I would have also highlighted to the Committee that they must place urgency on securing the Legal File from the MSYA because of risk of the file being misplaced or tampered with. If this Committee is able to secure said file then there would be a detailed traceability account on the movement of the said Legal file addressing the following
* the date the Committee requested the Legal file from the MYSA
* the date the Permanent Secretary at the MYSA requested the legal file from the Legal Officer 11 to facilitate the work of the Committee
*the date the MYSA handed over the said legal file to the Committee
*details on where the Legal file was routed
*names of persons other than the committee members who would have had access to the said Legal File.
It would be very unjust if this Committee was to produce a report referencing excerpts from a file obtained after my interview which may have been altered and without giving me an opportunity to validate as part of the due diligence process.
Having waited for two (2) weeks without hearing from the Committee on whether they were able to locate and secure the said Legal File for seeking my further input for verification purposes, I am now obligated to inform you about this matter.
In looking at the possible worst-case scenario where the said Legal File cannot be located, in ensuring that my statements made at my interview are not misconstrued, misrepresented and matches what is being presented in the Committee’s final report, the following details on what would have transpired during my tenure as Acting Permanent Secretary in MSYA are being submitted for your records.
1 I told the Committee that I first became aware of the sexual harassment allegation after Ms Sandra Jones former Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister called me personally in October 2016 to inquire whether I knew anything about a former female officer who was going around making claims that she was sexually harassed in the MSYA.
I told the Committee that when I received the call from former Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones, I did not know who she was speaking about and thereafter she enlightened me that it was a recently dismissed officer who previously worked with the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs. Not having the facts, I promised her I would follow up with Ms Judith Joseph MYSA’s Legal Officer 11 on contract to get a report. This Legal Officer 11 was responsible for interfacing with the Industrial Court, Claimant’s Union, Solicitor General and the mediating Conciliation Officer at the Ministry of Labour and Small Enterprise Development (MOLSED).
I further told the Committee that when I probed the MSYA’s Legal Officer 11 on the allegation she confirmed it was Ms Carrie Ann Moreau, former Personal Secretary to the former Minister Darryl Smith who was making the allegation.
The Committee was informed that I also probed the Legal Officer 11 to clarify whether the matter was reported to the Police and whether the Ministry’s Human Resources had provided EPA assistance which she could not confirm. I also highlighted to the Committee that once the matter is before the Police the Court will not proceed pending outcome of the Police investigation.
After discussing the matter I then gave an instruction for the Legal Officer 11 to prepare a report for submitting to the attention of the former Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones. Up until the time, January 6th 2017, when Ms Natasha Barrow replaced me as Permanent Secretary in the MSYA, the Legal Officer 11 had not submitted a report on the allegation.
2 The Committee was informed that the MYSA had three (3) wrongful dismissal claims pending over the Industrial Court seeking a settlement with collective liability surmounting to over $3,000,000.00 which are detailed as follows;
Ms Carrie-Ann Moreau’s was claiming settlement just over $300,000
Mr Shabaka Kambon’s claim for settlement was projected at $1,8000,000
Ms Lisa Granado’s claim for settlement was projected at $1,200,000
In lieu of the State’s exposure to this collective liability, in mitigating damages to minimize cost, I took a decision to start MYSA’s negotiation offer for the Carrie-Ann Moreau’s matter at $75,000.
I told the Committee that in the negotiation process the Claimant’s Union did not accept my $75,000 offer and subsequent incremental increases thereafter but they kept lobbying for settlement in excess of $300,000 which I kept declining.
Please note that, prior to any knowledge of sexual harassment allegation being raised, the matter before me was being treated as a normal Industrial Court matter. However, when I was made aware of the sexual harassment allegation by Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones and without a Report forthcoming from the Legal Officer 11, I approached this Ms Carrie-Ann Moreau’s settlement matter with great caution. When the Claimant’s Union started to realize that they were not getting anywhere with me they told the Legal Officer 11 that they had information pertaining to the sexual harassment allegation for leverage their bargaining position. I informed the Committee that I refused to negotiate and yield to Union demands. Given that I was not willing to sign off on the arbitration settlement for Ms Carrie An Moreau’s matter it implied that the matter would have to go before the Industrial Court for a decision.
3 The Committee was informed that in addition to financial compensation the union was requesting that Ms Carrie-Ann Moreau be re-employed at any one of the MSYA’s Sports facility. This request was denied by me after consultation with the acting Human Resources Director. The MSYA’s Legal File contains the record on the Minute Sheet to document my actions in declining the claimant’s re-employment proposal.
4. Regarding Independence of the inquiry process, I would have noted that the presence of Committee’s recording secretary Ms Racine Bowman, former Executive Assistant to former Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones who will also have to appear before the said Committee represents a material conduct of interest because of their prior working relationship.
5. During the course of my interview, I found that the settlement was signed on January 26th 2017. Upon reflecting on the fact that on January 6th 2017 former Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones would have assigned another Permanent Secretary to replace me in the MSYA it dawned on me that had I remained as the acting Permanent Secretary in the MSYA during the month of January then there would have been no settlement in the arbitration proceedings and the matter would have definitely gone forward to the Industrial Court for trial.
6. The Committee discussions with me were centred around a legal letter from Attorney Michael Quamina purporting to have negotiated settlement of $150,000 with Ms Carrie Ann Moreau in which it was mentioned that the said settlement was discussed with a Deputy Permanent Secretary whose identity was not stated and until today remains a mystery.
In trying to clarify this document I highlighted to the Committee that the MSYA’s Legal File was required to deal with the letter from attorney Michael Quamina because the Minute Sheet has records to demonstrate that I instructed Ms Judith Joseph, MSYA’s Legal Officer 11, to forward the said letter to the Solicitor General’s Office and Conciliation Officer at MOLSED to seek clarification as to who assigned this attorney.
The Committee wanted to find out the role I played if any in this negotiation process with Attorney Michael Quamina and I responded by telling them that:
a) I never met interacted or communicated with Attorney Quamina nor was I ever aware of anyone under my purview holding any discussions with the attorney to negotiate or endorse a settlement.
b) when the letter from Attorney Quamina was received, I initialled it and personally entered it on the file and wrote a minute to the MSYA’s Legal Officer 11 seeking clarification. (Anyone who produces a copy of this letter means they would have taken it from the MSYA’s Legal file.)
c)Being concerned about who will be responsible for paying the attorney? I took the MYSA Legal File with the letter to the former minister Darryl Smith to seek clarification and he responded by saying there would be no cost to the MSYA.
d) The letter purporting a $150,000 settlement was never accepted or utilised by me because a Permanent Secretary cannot negotiate or utilize a document prepared by a private attorney without requisite authorization from the Ministry of Attorney General and Legal Affairs.
Submitted for your attention and records
Ian Ramdahin
Permanent Secretary (Ag.)
