The government will appeal last week’s Supreme Court ruling, which quashed its decision to terminate Registrar General Elizabeth Thompson earlier this year.
Minister of Financial Services and Investment Allyson Maynard-Gibson on Monday made the disclosure in the House of Assembly, while contributing to the Budget debate.
Denying Mrs Thompson’s claim of victimisation, she informed her colleagues that Mrs Thompson was offered a higher paying job in another area and that she could not measure up to the post of Registrar General.
Minister Gibson also denied making provocative comments about Mrs Thompson’s mother.
However, in his ruling, Supreme Court Justice Hugh Small said the government acted improperly and unfairly when it sought to terminate Mrs Thompson, an attorney of more than 10 years, from her job.
In his lengthy ruling, the justice said there were procedural irregularities and the Judicial and Legal Service Commission breached due process when it advised the Governor General to terminate the appointment of Mrs Thompson. His ruling quashed the decision made on Jan. 10 to fire Mrs Thompson as Registrar General.
The ruling awarded damages and other costs incurred, which include legal fees and any other expenses that may have risen as a result of the matter.
“I have been vindicated, not only by the court system but by the Lord God Almighty himself,” Mrs Thompson told a press conference following the court’s decision. Her lawyer, Milton Evans, insists that she is still the Registrar General of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Mrs Thompson, 38, who also worked in the Office of the Attorney General as a prosecutor, left private practice to assume her duties on August 3, 2004, succeeding Sterling Quant.
Upon her termination, attorney Shane Miller replaced her.
According to the FNM, the ruling came at a time when the Registrar General’s Department was already challenged to deliver efficient service to the public. “The present state of confusion ﾖ two holders of the Office of Registrar General ﾖ is unfair to Mrs Thompson and Mr Miller, unfair to the staff of the Department they are expected to lead and, ultimately, unfair to the Bahamian public whom the Registrar General Department serves.”
The FNM added: “All this is to say nothing of the obvious fact that the whole situation arose because of a Cabinet Minister’s reported haughty attempt to throw her weight around, an attitude justice and the courts have now roundly condemned.”
The FNM said it is watching with great interest to see how the government will react to the ruling. The party expects that “the government will respect the court’s ruling and now do right by Mrs Thompson and bring about a fair resolution to this matter.”
By: KEVA LIGHTBOURNE, The Nassau Guardian
