Five former University of T&T’s (UTT) board members are now planning to sue their former employer for malicious prosecution, after the premature withdrawal of the university’s multi-million dollar lawsuit against them yesterday.
What began as an attempt to recoup almost $10 million from the former board members over the controversial lease of a guest house in Heights of Aripo is now set to cost the State over a fifth of that amount as the university has been ordered to pay the directors’ legal fees for the failed claim in addition to any potential damages which may be gained in their proposed claims.
The roundabout turn in the case came yesterday when UTT’s attorneys went before Justice Vasheist Kokaram to state their position on the lawsuit, which they accepted had changed after the administrator for the property, Arlene Jute, contradicted her former employer’s claims over financial losses in her testimony in the trial last week.
In a one-page statement after State attorneys filed the notices of discontinuance against them yesterday, former UTT president Prof Ken Julien and vice-president Dr Rene Monteil said they were happy with the decision as the allegations had put a strain on their families and had tarnished their reputations.
“Ordinarily we would not be minded to comment on proceedings which have been determined in our favour but we consider that it was a travesty to bring this case at all,” the statement said. While both men thanked Kokaram for intervening after the contradictory evidence was presented, they criticised the Government for pursuing it despite their repeated denials of any wrongdoing.
“Our concern is that the information which led to the collapse of the case was always readily available to the university but was suppressed wither because obvious questions were not asked of university staff or, if asked, was ignored or hidden away because it did not suit someone’s agenda,” the men said as they claimed the entire lawsuit was a “political witch-hunt.”
“We are concerned to ensure that no one else is so recklessly subjected to similar baseless accusations. In particular, we are anxious to ensure that the university’s independence is protected from gross interference and manipulation by the Government,” the statement added. Speaking after State attorneys announced the withdrawal during a short hearing in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, Kokaram highlighted the implications of other cases against former board members for bad decisions made during their tenure.
“The threshold to cross in bringing such an action for breach of statutory duty is not an easy one to satisfy, having regard to the fact that the court takes into account the prevailing social economic factors of decision-making. “It is no licence for ill advised litigation to make a point as it is no shield for corporate recklessness,” Kokaram said.
About the case
The lawsuit arose out of a forensic audit on UTT ordered by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan shortly after the 2010 general election. It is one of several lawsuits filed against former board members who served under the previous PNM administration and is the first to reach the trial stage.
UTT initiated the lawsuit in September 2012, claiming the former board had breached its fiduciary duty and failed to exercise due diligence in the sub-leasing of the guest house from Consolidated Services Ltd (CSL) for a five-year renewable lease at a monthly rent of $50,000.
It was contending that the board failed to act on the advice of the university’s legal team, which in 2006 discovered the owner of the property could not enter into the deal as the 150 acres of land the property is on was derived from a lease from government which had expired.
The directors listed in the lawsuit are former UTT president Prof Ken Julien, Dr Rene Monteil, Ravindra Nath-Maharaj, Scott Hilton-Clarke and Errol Pilgrim. Former director Giselle Marfleet was initially listed in the case. However, the lawsuit was withdrawn against her at the start of the trial last week.
In their defence the directors have claimed they were not aware of the issue with the land when the deal was signed and they took steps to purchase the property after it was discovered. As a secondary issue, UTT is suing Julien for allegedly authorising the temporary accommodation of the Rev Juliana Pena, the former spiritual adviser to former prime minister Patrick Manning, at the facility although she was not a guest of the university.
This claim was also contested by the guest house administrator, Arlene Jute, who testified last Friday that private customers and UTT staff were charged the same rates for use of the facility. Although she did not provide financial records, Jute also claimed that the facility was profitable to the university. This was in direct contradiction to the UTT’s main contention that the facility had caused it a $10.4 million loss during its operations.
UTT was represented by Vincent Nelson, QC, Gerald Ramdeen and Varun Debideen. The directors’ legal team included Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes and John Jeremie and attorneys Larry Lalla, Kerwyn Garcia, Stuart Young and Ravi Heffes-Doon.