Former Chefette assistant manager Orlando Harris had his monies for being sacked by the fast food chain cut by more than two-thirds this morning.
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) upheld part of the legal challenge mounted by Chefette and awarded Harris $31 000 instead of the $95 089 which the Barbados Court of Appeal had determined in 2016, which was down from the $106 630.01 the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) had granted also in 2016.
In a unanimous decision, the CCJ dismissed the company’s claim that Harris was not unfairly dismissed after 14 years and upheld the Court of Appeal’s ruling in that regard. However, it allowed the appeal against the award of compensation to $31 274.78, stating that what Harris received in lieu of notice and vacation pay should have been deducted.
Harris, who was dismissed in January 2014 by Chefette and given payment in lieu of notice, took his case to the ERT. However, Chefette, in its appeals, insisted it had not breached any laws in getting rid of Harris over what it said was his failure to follow cash handling procedures in the day-to-day running of the restaurant.
The case stemmed from a $40 cheque bearing the name ‘O Harris’ in circumstances where cashiers were allowed to cash cheque for employees in the same or similar category, but not permitted to cash Harris’ cheque made out to a manager, without permission from the manager on duty.
The Court of Appeal had found that Chefette did not act reasonably in its treatment of Harris and while the nature of the misconduct for which he was dismissed was of a type sufficiently serious to warrant dismissal, the evidence on which the company sacked him was not sufficient.
The CCJ said that as the appeal was allowed only in part, it ordered Chefette to pay 75 per cent of Harris’ cost at both the CCJ and the Court of Appeal.
Attorneys Satcha Kissoon and Benjamin Drakes appeared for Chefette while Gregory Nicholls, Kashka Mottley and Demetrie Adams appeared for Harris. (AC)
