Court orders compensation for senior fireman bypassed for top post

ACTING assistant Chief Fire Officer Siewnarine Ramsaran will receive court-ordered compensation for being bypassed to act as deputy chief fire officer (DCFO).

The Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Chief Fire Officer have also been directed to reconsider Ramsaran for the acting appointment to the post of deputy DCFO in 28 days as the court has declared he was eligible since August 2019.

Ramsaran had challenged the PSC’s decision to continuously bypass him for acting appointments in favour of another officer.

When he filed his judicial review and constitutional motion claim for unequal treatment from a public authority, Ramsaran was in charge of the San Fernando Division.

In his lawsuit, he said he applied for the acting appointment in May 2019, when the post was internally advertised.

Ramsaran said he was the longest serving acting assistant CFO (ACFO), and since there was no confirmed officeholder in the ACFO office, he would have had the most experience and would have qualified to act in the position of deputy CFO.

His claim said no interviews were held for the acting appointment of deputy CFO, but was told he was not considered suitable for the acting appointment since he did not complete the brigade command course.

An officer junior to him was appointed to act. Ramsaran said he successfully completed the brigade command course at the Fire Service College Morton in Marsh, United Kingdom, on August 23, 2019, but his junior was given a fifth acting appointment until December 2020.

Ramsaran said he also has an MSc in Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health and well as several certificates from fire and rescue courses.

He said he has made numerous inquiries and also sent a pre-action protocol letter and freedom of information requests to get answers from the PSC.

In her ruling, in which she made several declarations and ordered compensation, Justice Margaret Mohammed disagreed with the CFO and PSC’s contention that Ramsaran had no legitimate expectation to act in the post of DCFO once he successfully completed the brigade command course in the UK.

“In my opinion, the claimant has discharged the burden of proving the legitimacy of his expectation,” she said, pointing to the regulations that the CFO and the PSC, as public bodies, had the duty to follow before the latter considered anyone to act in any office in the fire service.

“The procedure set out therein is clear and unambiguous and the claimant was entitled to expect that the first and second defendants (the CFO and the PSC respectively) would follow the procedures as set out.”

She held that the CFO did not follow the procedures set out in the regulations after August 2019, when Ramsaran was eligible to act in the higher position as he met the criteria for the post.

“The first defendant did not notify the claimant of the acting post in advance so that he could have the opportunity to make representations and he also did not give him the statutory period of seven days to allow the claimant to make representations.”

She also held that Ramsaran’s legitimate expectation to be appointed to act as DCFO after he completed the course in the UK, was frustrated.

Her declarations included a finding that the decision of the PSC not to consider Ramsaran to act as DCFO from 2019, was illegal, irrational and unfair.

It was also declared that after August 2019, the CFO breached the PSC regulations.

The judge also found that Ramsaran was treated unfairly and in breach of the principles of natural justice and his right to equality of treatment from a public authority was breached.

Directions for the assessment of the monetary compensation, which will include vindicatory damages, for the violation of Ramsaran’s rights under section 4(d) of the Constitution, will be given on August 27 at a virtual hearing.

Ramsaran was represented by Anand Ramlogan SC, Jayanti Lutchmedial, Renuka Rambhajan and Alana Rambaran while the Nadine Nabie, Nicole Yee Fung, Zara Smith, Avaria Niles and Radha Sookdeo appeared for the CFO, PSC and the State.