Cyclist's lawyers to federation: Wheel and come again

TT Cycling Federation (TTCF) president Joseph Roberts and racing committee member Joel Browne have been given until Friday to issue a public apology to two-time Olympian Njisane Phillip and his stepfather Phillip Whiteman.

The Olympic cyclist and his guardian, through their attorneys Jagdeo Singh and Kristy Mohan, issued a letter to both cycling administrators, on January 15, claiming Roberts and Browne are not duly elected trustees of the TTCF, and such, are unauthorised to bring any legal action against anyone in the name of the cycling federation.

On September 18, 2020, the TTCF issued a pre-action protocol letter to Phillip requesting the immediate return of five new Mavic wheels which he allegedly took, without approval, from the National Cycling Centre in Couva on December 23, 2019.

The legal letter demanded that Phillip return the wheels “in the condition in which they were taken, that is, new”. It also said that if he is unable to do so, alternatively, he can pay the US$15,600 value of the wheels and the fraternity’s legal costs of $TT7,500.

To date, the wheels have not been returned. Phillip maintains his stance the wheels were bought specifically for cyclists preparing for major international competition.

Additionally, on November 6, 2020, the cycling federation sent a similar document to Whiteman claiming he owed them an outstanding amount of money which was used to purchase equipment for cyclists Phillip, Nicholas Paul, Kwesi Browne and Keron Bramble towards their 2020 Olympic qualification campaign.

Whiteman responded by sending a detailed spreadsheet, with receipts, outlining where and what equipment the money was spent on.

According to article 19.5 of the TTCF constitution, two people are to be duly elected as trustees of the TTCF, to sue and defend all legal proceedings instituted by or against the TTCF.

The exercise of the power contained in article 19.5 is premised on Article 19.1 of the constitution, which requires an election by the council of the Federation to appoint such members.

Newsday confirmed from a TTCF official that Roberts and Browne did serve as trustees under former president Robert Farrier, from 2014 to 2016. After the fraternity’s internal elections, in 2016, Farrier was reappointed president to serve a four-year term.

However, no trustees were installed to span the 2016 to 2020 period. It is on these grounds, Phillip and Whiteman have hit back at Roberts and Browne for acting without authority.

According to the stepfather/son team, the pre-action protocol letters are, therefore “unattributable” to the TTCF, and do not represent the intentions or interests of the council nor of the TTCF membership, as a whole.

Their letter to Roberts and Browne states, “The requisite election of trustees by the council of the Federation pursuant to Article 19.1, did not take place within the preceding four years.

“Accordingly, at all material times, there were no duly elected trustees authorised and/or empowered to cause any legal action to be taken in the name of the TTCF in accordance with Article 19.5 of its Constitution.

“Consequently, the pre-action protocol letters caused to be issued by you (Roberts and Browne), were done so without the requisite lawful authority and were ultra vires (beyond the powers) of the constitution of the TTCF.”

Phillip and Whiteman’s legal team have attributed these actions, particularly by the president, as an “abuse of power”. They said that as president, Roberts is deemed to know the fact that there were no trustees duly elected under Article 19.1 of the constitution. Therefore, “you had no power to authorise the issuance of any legal proceedings in accordance with Article 19.5, against our clients (Phillip and Whiteman), or at all.”

Both TTCF-issued pre-action protocol letters were subsequently forwarded to members of the media, published on both the printed and online press, and circulated on social media pages, allowing for mass republication.

The January 15 letter to Roberts and Browne added, “Your actions have caused loss of reputation, embarrassment, and humiliation to our clients on both a national and international level.

“In the circumstances, we are instructed to hereby call upon you to issue a public apology to our clients for the loss and damage caused by your unauthorised actions and abuse of power.

“Should you fail to issue a public apology within seven days hereof, our clients intend to pursue their rights and remedies in law against you.”

Whiteman revealed, on Monday, neither he nor Phillip wants to or will sue to the TTCF. However, they would like Roberts and Browne to admit their wrongs publicly and apologise.