PHILIPSBURG--The Judge at the Court of First Instance has given National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) and its Director Vernon Richards the opportunity to repeal their requests as filed in the injunction procedures by Thursday, October 29, at 4:00pm at the latest.

 

In case one of the parties does not comply, the labour agreement between parties will be dissolved as per November 1, it was decided Wednesday.

 

NIPA will also have to pay damages to Richards to the tune of NAf. 280,000 in compensation, the Court added, once his dismissal has been declared null and void in the main case.

 

Only in case both parties would repeal their requests, Richards should be allowed access to his working environment again as per November 1, the Court stated, against payment of US $250 per working day, in case of non-compliance, to a maximum of $50,000.

 

Richards had submitted an injunction petition in which his lawyers Cindy Marica and Jason Rogers had requested their client’s dismissal to be declared null and void, as well as payment of outstanding salaries from July until September, and continued salary payments until the labour contract is legally dissolved. Richards also demanded re-instatement as Director at NIPA.

 

Simultaneously with the injunction, NIPA had filed a conditional dissolution request in which the Court was requested to dissolve the labour agreement, in as far as it was still deemed intact.

 

The judge had advised parties to discuss a settlement, possibly through intervention of a third party. Both Richard’s lawyers as well as NIPA’s legal representative attorney Reynold Groeneveldt had said they were willing to discuss a settlement. Parties were to advise the Judge by October 7 whether they agreed to a settlement, but none had materialized.

 

Richards (56) has been a director at NIPA since November 1, 2014. Prior to that, he was employed at St. Maarten Vocational Training School from 1986. As NIPA does not have a statutory director, Richards was accountable to the seven-member foundation board.

 

According to NIPA’s school board, Richards had seriously violated the board’s trust vested in him. NIPA claimed that the relationship was damaged beyond repair and that Richards had failed to follow school board instructions, for instance regarding an open house for which several dignitaries were invited against the board’s will, and concerning sending internal correspondence to the Ministry of Education without their consent.

 

Richard had countered that he felt “on his own” in management and had urged the board to hire an accountant, human resource officer, a grid maker, secretary and computer expert for him to focus on his main tasks.

 

“The above recommendations would serve to end the present situation, whereby the NIPA director is systematically forced into a multi-tasking position, possibly compromising my position,” Richards wrote to the board op April 3.

 

On June 10, Richards was dismissed immediately, due to non-compliance with the board’s decision concerning the open house and what was described as a “breach of confidence.”

 

The Court deemed compensation reasonable because Richards had to work in a job with a “high risk of failure.” He was employed to set up a new school, had to work in a “restless environment” without a statutory director and a seven-member board; there was no acting director for a long time and there were many vacancies in the support staff.

 

Besides, students were unhappy because many classes for which they had paid were not given, and the media and parliament were following developments at the new school “suspiciously,” the Judge said.

 

Richards, however, could boast of an “exemplary” record in education in government service since 1986, the Court stated. The foundation had failed to prove that Richards had not been working hard to make his employment a success, and many NIPA staff members had signed statements in which they took Richards’ side in his conflict with the board.

 

The Daily Herald

 

Related article:

- Education Minister advises NIPA board to retract dismissal letter