Maharaj calls on Govt to reopen Angostura investigation

Saying government has a duty to ensure women are not sexually exploited at the workplace, former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj has called on the ruling PNM administration to reopen a sexual harassment investigation at Angostura Ltd.

In a brief media statement on October 29, Angostura said allegations of sexual harassment made against its chairman Dr Rolph Balgobin by a senior female executive had been dismissed after an internal investigation.

“As a result, the investigation is now closed. The allegations were contained in a whistle-blower complaint submitted to the board on November 3, 2016,” Angostura stated.

However, at a media briefing at his Irving Street, San Fernando law office yesterday, Maharaj, who with attorney Ronnie Bissessar are representing the senior female executive, said there were several inaccuracies within Angostura’s media statement and that its decision to dismiss the complaint was “wholly improper and constitutes a breach of the contract of employment between the senior employee and Angostura.”

He said the company had not given a “proper reason” for the termination of the Diana Mahabir-Wyatt investigating committee and replacing it with sole investigator attorney Rolston Nelson SC.

“Mr Nelson in reality did not, in our view, conduct an investigation into the senior employee’s complaint,” he said adding, “the senior employee is entitled to have her complaint properly and fairly investigated. A grave injustice has been done to her and this injustice ought not to be allowed to continue.

“Angostura has the power to say they have reconsidered this matter and that they have decided in the public interest, in the interest of the company, in the interest of the whistle-blower policy that it has, otherwise it is a mockery of the whistle-blower policy. In the interest of that, it can reinstate the committee, reinstate the complaint, and direct that the committee complete its report,” Maharaj said.

He said Angostura, which is listed on the TT Stock Exchange, is under the control of the government and called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to “take the appropriate steps to ensure that the investigation” be restarted.

“We believe Angostura should act within the next two weeks, and the government should act within the next week or two also and, therefore, we believe that within the next 21 days we should see the committee back in action. If that does not happen, we will have to consider our legal options but that has to be our last resort.” he said.

Efforts to contact Angostura’s communications department were unsuccessful due to a function.