Union supports legal challenge to public servants appointments in the Parliament

KINGSTOWN (CMC)

The Public Service Union (PSU) has said the High Court will in May this year begin hearing a lawsuit challenging the appointments of Deborah Charles as clerk of the House of Assembly and Simone Williams-Huggins as her deputy.

PSU president, Elroy Boucher told reporters that the lawsuit against the Public Service Commission (PSC) had been filed in the High Court on October 11, last year and that the matter is schedule for hearing on May 17 or 24.

The union is optimistic that the claimant, Selena McDonald, will triumph as the appointments are being challenged on similar grounds as a 2019 case sponsored by the union, in which the court ruled in favour of the claimant.

In the 2019 case, the High Court ruled that the PSC had failed to comply with specific Public Service Regulations in respect of the non-promotion of five public officers during their respective periods in the public service of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The officers were overlooked for promotion even as persons who were less qualified and experienced than they, others who they trained, and relatives of high-ranking public officers, some of whom had no relevant training or experience, moved ahead.

“So, the continued violation of the regulations and the continued ignoring of the judgment itself is a problem for the Public Service Union,” Boucher said, adding “it is a matter of ensuring transparency and justice within the promotion system within the public service.

“You couldn’t have fought that for so many years and then we’re having the same thing as if we never brought a case to court.”

He said that the case against the appointment of the clerk and deputy clerk, “because of the persons who are involved … one might say well, it borders on the political realm, but it’s not.

“It’s purely a matter of appointment within the public service”.

Boucher said, McDonald, who holds a master’s degree, and worked in the department of the House of Assembly for some 15 years, is qualified to fill the post.

“And, in times in the past, whenever the clerk or the deputy clerk had been out, she had acted in the position, so she understands the job,” Boucher said, noting however that McDonald was reassigned to the Ministry of Agriculture a few years ago but is still attached to the House of Assembly.

“And it is alleged that that the assignment was to pave the way for someone else to fill the position of Deputy Clerk of the House,” Boucher said.

“Those are some practices that go on in public service. If you are so qualified, and potentially you can fill a position, and there is somebody who is earmarked, they ease out of the way to make space for the person that they have earmarked. Of course, it is illegal. But that is what our suspicion is,” the union leader said.

He said that while the lawsuit is a Public Service Union matter, the union is not the direct claimant, adding that McDonald has been affected by the appointments.

The PSC appointed Charles and Williams-Huggins in July 2023 amid objection by the parliamentary Opposition and the PSU.