No legal costs for Thema to pay

TT gymnast Thema Williams will not be made to pay the legal costs of the former members of the TT Gymnastics Federation (TTGF).

In a three-page written decision this morning , Justice Frank Seepersad said while the general rule was for the unsuccessful party to pay the costs of the successful party, the court had the discretion to depart from this rule.

Last week, Seepersad dismissed Williams’ claim against former TTGF president David Marquez, executive members Akil Wattley and husband/wife duo of Ricardo and Donna Lue Shue.

However, in determining whether Williams should pay for this, he said the court had found as a fact that the conduct of the four was “characterised by a degree of blameworthiness and arbitrariness.”

Seepersad said the four were fortunate to be shielded from personal liability because at the time they made the decision to pull Williams from the 2016 Olympic test event in Rio, they were doing so as executive members of the TTGF. “However, their conduct was unacceptable and should be accompanied by a sense of shame.”

For this reason, he ruled that Williams ought not to be made to pay their legal costs.

In his ruling, Seepersad said the four were “the ones who drove the ill-advised and unfair replacement decision and their entrenched biases clouded their judgment.”

He said the acts of the four resulted in the TTGF’s contractual breach of the athlete’s agreement with Williams which was found to be “egregious that it awarded exemplary damages so as to deter the arbitrary discharge of decision making authority and to underscore the need to ensure that decisions are effected in circumstances that are devoid of bias."

Seepersad also said the presence of the four in the lawsuit was critical since their evidence was necessary for a resolution of the issues in Williams’ lawsuit.

“If they were not parties, they may not have been called as witnesses and the Court would have been deprived of evidence which was ultimately material.”

He also said the public deserved to have clarity on the sequence of events which catalysed a decision that “materially affected Williams’ life and marred this nation’s 2016 Olympic experience.”

In his ruling last week, the judge found the TTGF to be biased in deciding to withdraw Williams from the crucial test event and replace her with Canadian-born alternate Marisa Dick.

“The court formed the view that these defendants allowed their entrenched biases to cloud their judgment and they acted with undue haste, deprived themselves of the benefit of relevant information and ultimately effected a flawed decision,” he said last week.

In a 60-page written decision delivered at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain, Seepersad also ordered the TTGF to compensate Williams. She was awarded $200,000.

Williams was represented by Martin Daly,SC, Keith Scotland and Reza Ramjohn. Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, Ronnie Bissessar and Varin Gopaul-Gosine represented Marquez and the others.

Comments

"No legal costs for Thema to pay"

More in this section