A High Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the former executive director of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association, seeking over $243,000 in damages.
Justice Margaret Mohammed ruled on December 6 that Patrica Aquing’s claims, related to her consultancy agreements with the organisation, were unfounded.
Aquing, who served from July 15, 2015-May 9, 2019, argued that her implied contract was wrongfully terminated and that she was owed 26 months of consultancy fees and unpaid bonuses.
The association maintained the termination was valid and that bonus payments were calculated per contractual terms.
According to the evidence, the association contracted Aquing to work as a consultant in the role of executive director. After the initial contract expired, she continued to provide consultancy services until May 2019, when she was terminated and paid a month’s salary in lieu of notice.
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Aquing contended the association breached the "implied contract" for the period she continued to provide consultancy services.
The judge found no evidence of unlawful termination or entitlement to additional bonuses, except a difference of US$55.69 for 2016-2018.
Aquing was ordered to pay $140,369.82 in legal costs.
Mohammed said the terms of Aquing’s initial contract explicitly allowed for renewal only for a one-year term on mutual agreement, and there was no provision for a three-year renewal.
“She may have been expecting a positive result or expected a renewal but that is a separate question from whether in fact she had a contract for three years by implication.
“In my opinion such an implication does not satisfy the ‘business efficacy test’ or the ‘'reasonableness test.’"
On the validity of the termination under the implied contract, Mohammed ruled that the initial contract's provisions did not mandate a one-month notice or payment in lieu. However, she held that the association’s payment of a month's salary effectively compensated Aquing for any potential losses arising from the immediate termination.
And Mohammed said since Aquing was not unlawfully terminated, she was not entitled to damages nor the bonuses she claimed, since she failed to set out any facts to support it.
The Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) is a regional non-governmental organisation established by an act of Parliament in 1991.
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The CWWA is a grouping of water, wastewater and solid-waste professionals in the public and private sectors.
Attorneys Martin George and Keshavi Khoorban represented Aquing. Vivek Lakhan-Joseph and Carina Jailal represented the association.
