PHILIPSBURG--Former managing director of Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS) Denicio Richardson has won the court case filed against his former employer and Country St. Maarten. The Court ruled in Richardson's favour on June 3, it emerged Monday.

 

In this case, Richardson had not only challenged what he deemed his illegal suspension from December 2011, but had also requested the Court to establish his remuneration package.

 

PSS board suspended Richardson from December 27, 2011, until January 13, 2012, for what was described as disregarding procedural protocol. The board took this decision after Richardson had signed and cleared a NAf. 8,000 cheque for the purchase of a number of computers.

 

However, his authority allowed him to sign and approve amounts only up to a maximum of Naf. 5,000. If the latter amount was exceeded, Richardson had to obtain the signature of either the chairman of the board or the vice-chairman, the PSS board had claimed.

 

Richardson tendered his resignation via letter to PSS Shareholder Representative Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams and the PSS Supervisory Board effective February 1, 2013.

 

He was the PSS director since the entity was established in October 2010, when St. Maarten obtained its separate status within the kingdom. The post office formerly operated under Nieuwe Post Nederlandse Antillen N.V.

 

Richardson's tenure was filled with turmoil with the board, including but not limited to details of his employment contract and salary package.

 

Throughout his court case, which was filed in May 2013, Richardson maintained that the Shareholder Representative and Supervisory Board had failed to establish his remuneration package in line with the company bylaws and the Corporate Governance Code.

 

The Judge ruled entirely in Richardson favour and also concluded that his suspension lacked a legal basis and was, therefore, deemed illegal.

 

The Court arrived at the conclusion that Richardson's limited authorisation to sign cheques was against PSS' statutes.

Richardson had requested the Court to set his gross monthly salary at NAf. 19,740 and to grant him a monthly allowance of NAf. 2,000, a vacation allowance of 8.25 per cent of his gross salary, a Christmas bonus equal to his monthly salary, a pension contribution of 22 per cent of his gross salary and other legal bonuses.

 

Richardson had stated that his basic salary was in line with the Corporate Governance Code.

 

In total, Richardson claimed an amount of NAf. 428,568, minus NAf. 191,850 which had already been paid out to him as advances in his salary.

 

The Court granted the requests because the contested amounts were insufficiently contradicted by PSS and Country to St. Maarten, and ordered these entities to pay out NAf. 403,528, with legal interest.

 

In this decision, it was also taken into consideration that Richardson's suspension had tarnished his good name and reputation, for which he was granted NAf. 5,000 in damages.

 

In addition, PSS was also ordered to pay legal fees, which were estimated at NAf. 15,433.

 

"I take this opportunity to thank God first and foremost, my family and friends and my lawyer Ms. Jojanneke Deelstra of HBN law firm, who did a great job in putting together and defending this case well. Together we rightfully won a great, long battle and got a well-deserved ruling, as this was always about just demanding and getting a fair and reasonable remuneration package normally awarded in line with the Code and to clear my name of any wrongdoings," Richardson said in a statement.

"With this favourable ruling now in hand, I trust Government and PSS will respect and accept the ruling of the Court, bring the matter to a good closure and settle what is still outstanding for my honourable services to my country. In essence, stop the back and forth on this matter, which has been going on now, unnecessary and unsupported, for almost four years to date. Clearly mistakes were made in the past, and you cannot turn back the hands of time to change anything already done, but you can learn, own up to it and move on," Richardson said.