Licks for Table Tennis Assoc. as judge extends injunction

This country's showing at the Commonwealth Games in April will go to trial on March 5, and until then the TT Table Tennis Association (TTTTA) hands are tied as an injunction, which prevented them from taking any further action in its decision to select two home-based players, has been further extended.

Unlike on two previous occasions, Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell yesterday extended the injunction “until further order” while French-based duo Dexter St Louis and Rheann Chung challenge their exclusion from the national team to head to the Gold Coast.

Last week, the judge removed the injunction, only to reinstate it hours later.

She has also taken the association to task for not referring the matter to arbitration, instead preferring to challenge the duo in court.

In their lawsuit, St Louis, 50, and 33-year-old Chung are questioning the process used by the association to select 19-year-old Aaron Wilson and 21-year-old Yuvraj Dookram to the team and Arun Ramnarine as the reserve.

The pair is seeking damages for breach of contract, conspiracy and unlawful interference and an order that the issue is resolved through the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC)’s arbitration process. In defence of the lawsuit, the TTTTA is claiming that the duo was informed via email of the selection criteria and chose not to participate.

It is also alleging that they only decided to challenge the process after it was completed.

The TTTTA is also claiming it had closely followed the TTOC’s guidelines and deadlines in making its selection.

It is also claiming that arbitration is not an option as such can only be initiated by the association under the TTOC’s constitution.

Donaldson-Honeywell yesterday threw out St Louis and Chung’s application for the matter to be sent to arbitration but gave notice that she was considering the issue of making a wasted legal cost order in favour of the two foreign-based players.

A decision on this will be given at the end of the trial.

According to the judge, the TTTTA refused to try an alternative dispute resolution procedure of arbitration, although it may have been “more expeditious, less costly and equally, if not more effective, in achieving a just result based on the specialisation of the TTOC’s tribunal in sports practice and law.

She said the refusal of the association to refer the matter to arbitration “may have caused all parties

to incur costs and delays unnecessarily.”

Lawyers for the TTTTA are to attend court on a date to be determined after the trial to show why they should not have to pay.

The judge also directed parties to file affidavits on the issue.

These statements are to include a comparative analysis setting out the costs, time and specialised knowledge advantages of litigation as opposed to arbitration; how the costs are to be met by the TTTTA – if by members’ fees – and if the association ever referred any dispute to arbitration, before refusing to do so, in relation to Chung and St Louis’ complaints