A Nassau couple who claim they are being prevented from getting justice from the Bahamas Appeal Court plan to take their case to the Privy Council in London.
Greg and Tanya Cash, who are involved in a prolonged legal battle with the Baptist church, claim court officials are blocking them by refusing to accept their documents.
They are convinced they will get justice once they appear before the Appeal justices. But they say their attempts to secure a hearing are being frustrated.
“All Bahamians should be concerned about this,” Mrs Cash told The Tribune yesterday. “It means that if you are up against someone in the political or religious arena you can’t get justice.”
The couple have been involved in a long court wrangle with the Baptists since Mr Cash was fired from his job as games master with Jordan Prince William Baptist High School in 2002.
Mrs Cash also claims the family was victimised by school authorities after she mobilised complaints against rising fees and alleged general neglect of the school.
Now they are taking court action against the Attorney General, but allege that they are being obstructed by officials who refuse to file their documents.
“We are confident of success if we get this matter to the Court of Appeal, but they want to keep us in limbo and stop it from going to trial,” Mrs Cash claimed.
The couple’s three-year fight for justice began with Mr Cash’s “wrongful dismissal” claim against the school. At the time, two of the Cash children were expelled after Mrs Cash – along with other parents – sent a confidential letter of complaint to the Ministry of Education about alleged neglect of the school.
The letter found its way into the hands of the Rev Dr William Thompson, president of the Bahamas Baptist Missionary and Education Convention.
In the original action, Mr Cash claimed damages for alleged inhumane and degrading treatment, insulting language and behaviour, harassment, wrongful dismissal, malicious falsehood, character injury and financial loss.
Mrs Cash alleged breach of trust and confidence and of statutory and fiduciary duty.
Both also alleged inhumane and degrading treatment of their children and unjust disruption of their education.
Altogether, there are nine defendants, including the Baptist Education Authority, Dr Thompson, Bishop Samuel Greene and the school itself.
Three defendants, including the Attorney General and Ministry of Education, later applied to have the writ struck out as vexatious with no reasonable cause of action.
However, in September Mr and Mrs Cash filed a criminal suit against Attorney General Alfred Sears claiming his office had been perverting the cause of justice in their civil action against the Baptist Education Authority.
They alleged that the government’s legal department had repeatedly evaded requirements of the law by not filing proper documents.
In October, Justice Faizool Mohammed struck out a statement of claim as “confusing” – and ordered the couple to pay the cost of their application.
Now they are seeking to overcome the Appeal Court snag, alleging that police were called when they tried to get their documents accepted.
“They are now claiming we are out of time,” said Mrs Cash, “but that is not so. We are being blocked from every angle in trying to get this matter to go to trial. We are getting no explanations and no justice.
“We feel that we are in a religious and political battle. We have been before five judges, including
the Chief Justice, and we can’t move forward.”
Mr and Mrs Cash believe many Nassau lawyers are deeply concerned about their situation. But they feel they are afraid to intervene.
“There are a lot of people who are supporting us, but we feel the Bar Association ought now to get involved because of the serious implications of this case. This is a David and Goliath contest, but at the moment Goliath seems to be winning,” said Mr Cash.
The couple said the Privy Council would be their only option if they fail to get before the Appeal Court.
“But we are determined to take this matter to the very limit,” they vowed.
Source: The Tribune
