The full letter, published, below is not just an expose- unintended as it is- on the shortcomings of the Committee mandated to probe sexual harassment claims against former Minister of Sport Darryl Smith but also throws a glaring spotlight on the manipulation of the highest-ranking non-political post in the public service, the Permanent Secretary (PS).And that TT$150,000 was peanuts compared with the millions that will be paid by taxpayers for unfair dismissal claims as a result of the love triangle involving Smith.
In the end while Carrie Ann Moreau, is being paraded as the only victim of Smith’s run at the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs(MSYA), here on the official records, is an account of the journey to the TT$150,00 payout on what was a claim of sexual harassment and how a PS was moved out of the Ministry and sent to the boondocks to ensure that Moreau got her just due.
Moreau, incidentally, is the niece of two top-ranking government officials, Education Minister Anthony Garcia and Noel Garcia who is the Chairman of the Urban Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago (UDECOTT) none of whom may have gotten involved in the affairs of their sister’s daughter.
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| PM Rowley, Smith and Anthony Garcia. Photo: Abraham Diaz |
Again, it was Head of the Public Service Sandra Jones, who at the time was Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, according to the account that is published in full below, who called in to the MSYA and enlightened the Acting PS Ian Ramdahin of the “former female officer who was going around making claims that she was sexually harassed in the MSYA”.
And eventually when, under mounting public pressure, a three-member committee was appointed to investigate the claims of sexual harassment Jones’ former Executive Assistant Ms Racine Bowman, acted as the Recording Secretary for the Committee.
Bowman was well placed to know what was happening every step of the way with the Committee comprising former PS Jacqueline Wilson and which included women’s activist Folade Mutota and attorney Elaine B Green.
“Regarding Independence of the inquiry process I would have noted that the presence of Committee’s recording secretary Ms Racine Bowman, former Executive Assistant to former Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones who will also have to appear before the said Committee represents a material conflictt of interest because of their prior working relationship,“ Ag Permanent Secretary Ian Randahin noted in his letter to the current Head of the Public Service, Maurice Suite.
The letter, dated May 14th 2018, two weeks after Ramdahin met with the Committee was, however, intended to place on record the fact that Mutota, Green and Wilson interviewed Ramadhin, just once, without having access to the Legal File at the MSYA which actually chronicles the sequence of events leading to the $150,000 settlement.
Is the file missing? That’s the big question.
"At the start of my interview, I would have observed that there were photocopies of loose documents on the table before the Committee members and I immediately asked “Does the Committee have the MYSA legal file on the subject matter?” and they all responded in the negative.
Having observed the Committee’s casualness about not having the main legal file before them to guide their inquiry I would have expressed my grave concern about “how could they possibly expect to conduct a proper and fair inquiry without first securing the original MYSA legal file?” given that it has all the pertinent information and records documenting my queries, concerns and the position I took in not signing off on a settlement proposal".
Ramdahin goes on to explain that he waited for two weeks to know whether the Committee secured the file and when he got no word, it appears he “took in front” by sending this letter documenting the process in a way that he never got a chance to explain to the Committee.
And also how he probed Judith Joseph, the Legal Officer 11 at the MSYA, who could not confirm the matter was reported to the Police or whether the victim of sexual harassment, Moreau, had EPA assistance to deal with her troubles.
And how he never knew whether she prepared a report, as requested, to submit to the then Head of the Public Service Sandra Jones, which up to the time that he was replaced by Natasha Barrow did not arrive on Jones’ desk.
Clearly, he was blacklisted for following procedure and refusing, as part of the negotiations, to also re-employ Moreau in the MYSA.
Police Commissioner Gary Griffith’s decision to open an investigation into the claim made by the young woman, who was alleged to be in an extramarital relationship when she was hired as a Personal Secretary to the Minister and barely completed half of her term, may well backfire
Any probe that is deep enough should uncover a love triangle at the MSYA which also involved Smith’s now estranged lover, Kate Balthazar, which fell apart leading to the claims and the payout as a punishment that was eventually forgiven.
All is reported to be well with the Minister and his accuser who, sources at the Ministry reported, showed up at the MSYA a few weeks after she was fired and had a long morning meeting with Smith where she may have negotiated her payout, in what is clearly not a classic Me Too case.
More importantly, however, is the story behind it. How Ramdahin was blacklisted and removed from the MSYA because he refused to pay out the money requested opting instead for the matter to be dealt with at the Industrial Court until he got a call from the Head of the Public Service, Sandra Jones, informing him, for the first time, that it was a claim of sexual harassment.
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| Natasha Barrow signed the TT$150,000 cheque |
At the Industrial Court, Shabaka Kambon, who had worked just five months on his three-year contract was seeking $1.8 million. He refused to comment on the true value of his final settlement for unfair dismissal.
Lisa Granado, who was also sent packing by Smith, is still before the court in her claim for $1.2 million.
PS Ramdahin, it should be noted, was shipped to the MSYA - seen as a demotion-in June 2014 after a stint at the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs where he busted the now-infamous diesel racket. He landed in the Lifesport era and helped to dismantle the illegal systems he found and the budget documents will show that be brought recurrent expenditure at the MYSA down from $50 million to $30 million.
“They were easily stealing $20 million and maybe you should call Ramdahin to find out if he now understands there is no sense in having integrity,” an employee of the MSYA, who busted the Romping in Tobago scandal that preceded the sexual harassment claims, told me.
“He got into Smith’s bad books when he wrote a letter requesting Health and Safety Certification for the Ministry’s Office at Elizabeth Street, St Clair when workers were reporting ill,” our source noted, adding that the Minister penned a letter to higher authorities to express his dissatisfaction.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, it should be noted, was basically lenient with Smith when the story, first exposed on this blog, of spending TT$92,000 of the MSYA’s funds on a weekend trip to Tobago with his girlfriend and others. Smith was removed from Sport and placed as Minister in the Ministry of Housing.
Angry sources within the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) suggested that Smith was expected to lie low for a while until he landed the job as Minister of Housing which was originally promised to him, before Port of Spain South MP, Marlene Mc Donald who while noting that Smith was a just come to the PNM fold, especially given her track record as Rowley’s Opposition Chief Whip, threw a tantrum and demanded the plum post.
Smith’s chances were apparently wiped out after the sexual harassment story broke.
Still, PNM sources insist they know why he may have been protected by the Prime Minister.
The common denominator is love triangle squared.
It is a story that will not be published but will be whispered in PNM circles for decades to come.
The full letter:
From Ian Ramdahin
Permanent Secretary (Ag)
To Maurice Suite
Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister
May 14th 2018
Inquiry into Sexual Harassment Allegations made against former Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs.
Reference is made to the Inquiry commissioned by the Honorable Prime Minister into the sexual harassment allegation made against the former Minister Darryl Smith when he was at the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs (MSYA) which is being conducted by an Independent Committee.
Please note that my interview was held with the said Committee on April 30th, 2018 at 10 30 am to provide information on what would have transpired during the period October 3rd, 2016 to January 6th, 2017 when I would have served as former acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry MSYA.
At the start of my interview, I would have observed that there were photocopies of loose documents on the table before the Committee members and I immediately asked “Does the Committee have the MSYA legal file on the subject matter?” and they all responded in the negative.
Having observed the Committee’s casualness about not having the main legal file before them to guide their inquiry I would have expressed my grave concern about “how could they possibly expect to conduct a proper and fair inquiry without first securing the original MYSA legal file?” given that it has all the pertinent information and records documenting my queries, concerns and the position I took in not signing off on a settlement proposal.
“I would have also highlighted to the Committee that they must place urgency on securing the Legal File from the MSYA because of risk of the file being misplaced or tampered with. If this Committee is able to secure said file then there would be a detailed traceability account on the movement of the said Legal file addressing the following
* the date the Committee requested the Legal file from the MYSA
* the date the Permanent Secretary at the MYSA requested the legal file from the Legal Officer 11 to facilitate the work of the Committee
*the date the MYSA handed over the said legal file to the Committee
*details on where the Legal file was routed
*names of persons other than the committee members who would have had access to the said Legal File.
It would be very unjust if this Committee was to produce a report referencing excerpts from a file obtained after my interview which may have been altered and without giving me an opportunity to validate as part of the due diligence process.
Having waited for two (2) weeks without hearing from the Committee on whether they were able to locate and secure the said Legal File for seeking my further input for verification purposes, I am now obligated to inform you about this matter.
In looking at the possible worst-case scenario where the said Legal File cannot be located, in ensuring that my statements made at my interview are not misconstrued, misrepresented and matches what is being presented in the Committee’s final report, the following details on what would have transpired during my tenure as Acting Permanent Secretary in MSYA are being submitted for your records.
1 I told the Committee that I first became aware of the sexual harassment allegation after Ms Sandra Jones former Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister called me personally in October 2016 to inquire whether I knew anything about a former female officer who was going around making claims that she was sexually harassed in the MSYA.
I told the Committee that when I received the call from former Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones, I did not know who she was speaking about and thereafter she enlightened me that it was a recently dismissed officer who previously worked with the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs. Not having the facts, I promised her I would follow up with Ms Judith Joseph MYSA’s Legal Officer 11 on contract to get a report. This Legal Officer 11 was responsible for interfacing with the Industrial Court, Claimant’s Union, Solicitor General and the mediating Conciliation Officer at the Ministry of Labour and Small Enterprise Development (MOLSED).
I further told the Committee that when I probed the MSYA’s Legal Officer 11 on the allegation she confirmed it was Ms Carrie Ann Moreau, former Personal Secretary to the former Minister Darryl Smith who was making the allegation.
The Committee was informed that I also probed the Legal Officer 11 to clarify whether the matter was reported to the Police and whether the Ministry’s Human Resources had provided EPA assistance which she could not confirm. I also highlighted to the Committee that once the matter is before the Police the Court will not proceed pending outcome of the Police investigation.
After discussing the matter I then gave an instruction for the Legal Officer 11 to prepare a report for submitting to the attention of the former Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones. Up until the time, January 6th 2017, when Ms Natasha Barrow replaced me as Permanent Secretary in the MSYA, the Legal Officer 11 had not submitted a report on the allegation.
2 The Committee was informed that the MYSA had three (3) wrongful dismissal claims pending over the Industrial Court seeking a settlement with collective liability surmounting to over $3,000,000.00 which are detailed as follows;
Ms Carrie-Ann Moreau’s was claiming settlement just over $300,000
Mr Shabaka Kambon’s claim for settlement was projected at $1,8000,000
Ms Lisa Granado’s claim for settlement was projected at $1,200,000
In lieu of the State’s exposure to this collective liability, in mitigating damages to minimize cost, I took a decision to start MYSA’s negotiation offer for the Carrie-Ann Moreau’s matter at $75,000.
I told the Committee that in the negotiation process the Claimant’s Union did not accept my $75,000 offer and subsequent incremental increases thereafter but they kept lobbying for settlement in excess of $300,000 which I kept declining.
Please note that, prior to any knowledge of sexual harassment allegation being raised, the matter before me was being treated as a normal Industrial Court matter. However, when I was made aware of the sexual harassment allegation by Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones and without a Report forthcoming from the Legal Officer 11, I approached this Ms Carrie-Ann Moreau’s settlement matter with great caution. When the Claimant’s Union started to realize that they were not getting anywhere with me they told the Legal Officer 11 that they had information pertaining to the sexual harassment allegation for leverage their bargaining position. I informed the Committee that I refused to negotiate and yield to Union demands. Given that I was not willing to sign off on the arbitration settlement for Ms Carrie An Moreau’s matter it implied that the matter would have to go before the Industrial Court for a decision.
3 The Committee was informed that in addition to financial compensation the union was requesting that Ms Carrie-Ann Moreau be re-employed at any one of the MSYA’s Sports facility. This request was denied by me after consultation with the acting Human Resources Director. The MSYA’s Legal File contains the record on the Minute Sheet to document my actions in declining the claimant’s re-employment proposal.
4. Regarding Independence of the inquiry process, I would have noted that the presence of Committee’s recording secretary Ms Racine Bowman, former Executive Assistant to former Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones who will also have to appear before the said Committee represents a material conduct of interest because of their prior working relationship.
5. During the course of my interview, I found that the settlement was signed on January 26th 2017. Upon reflecting on the fact that on January 6th 2017 former Permanent Secretary Sandra Jones would have assigned another Permanent Secretary to replace me in the MSYA it dawned on me that had I remained as the acting Permanent Secretary in the MSYA during the month of January then there would have been no settlement in the arbitration proceedings and the matter would have definitely gone forward to the Industrial Court for trial.
6. The Committee discussions with me were centred around a legal letter from Attorney Michael Quamina purporting to have negotiated settlement of $150,000 with Ms Carrie Ann Moreau in which it was mentioned that the said settlement was discussed with a Deputy Permanent Secretary whose identity was not stated and until today remains a mystery.
In trying to clarify this document I highlighted to the Committee that the MSYA’s Legal File was required to deal with the letter from attorney Michael Quamina because the Minute Sheet has records to demonstrate that I instructed Ms Judith Joseph, MSYA’s Legal Officer 11, to forward the said letter to the Solicitor General’s Office and Conciliation Officer at MOLSED to seek clarification as to who assigned this attorney.
The Committee wanted to find out the role I played if any in this negotiation process with Attorney Michael Quamina and I responded by telling them that:
a) I never met interacted or communicated with Attorney Quamina nor was I ever aware of anyone under my purview holding any discussions with the attorney to negotiate or endorse a settlement.
b) when the letter from Attorney Quamina was received, I initialled it and personally entered it on the file and wrote a minute to the MSYA’s Legal Officer 11 seeking clarification. (Anyone who produces a copy of this letter means they would have taken it from the MSYA’s Legal file.)
c)Being concerned about who will be responsible for paying the attorney? I took the MYSA Legal File with the letter to the former minister Darryl Smith to seek clarification and he responded by saying there would be no cost to the MSYA.
d) The letter purporting a $150,000 settlement was never accepted or utilised by me because a Permanent Secretary cannot negotiate or utilize a document prepared by a private attorney without requisite authorization from the Ministry of Attorney General and Legal Affairs.
Submitted for your attention and records
Ian Ramdahin
Permanent Secretary (Ag.)
