KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – The Public Service Union (PSU) says 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 scheduled 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 favor of the claimant.
In the 2019 case, the High Court ruled that the PSC had failed to comply with specific Public Service Regulations regarding 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 whom they trained, and relatives of high-ranking public officers, some of whom needed more 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 the case against the appointment of the Clerk and deputy clerk, “because of the persons 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 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 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 amidst objections by the parliamentary opposition and the PSU.
Opposition Leader Dr. Godwin Friday noted that Charles had been a senator for the ruling Unity Labour Party(ULP) government for the five years that ended November 2020 and had been a ULP candidate in the 2015 and 2020 general elections.
Boucher said that the PSU, through its lawyers and the claimant, is asking the court to declare that the PSC acted unfairly and unlawfully by appointing Alexander-Charles and Williams-Huggins rather than McDonald.
They are further asking the court to declare that the PSC’s decision to appoint Charles and Williams-Huggins to their respective positions violates the principles of selection for appointment and promotion, and in particular regulation 19 of the PSC regulation, or that the PSC’s decision failed to consider the relevant factors.
The litigant is also the court to declare that the PSC failed and refused to advertise the Clerk of the House of Assembly post, thereby violating regulation 18 of the PSC regulations and the principle of transparency.
The High Court is being asked to quash the PSC’s decision to appoint Charles and Williams-Huggins to their respective positions.
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