"SHAMEFUL" and "disgraceful" were just some of the words used to describe the failure by the chairman of the Equal Opportunity Tribunal (EOT) to give effect to the presidential appointment of lay assessor Veera Bhajan.

The tribunal chairman, attorney Donna Prowell-Raphael, was accused on Friday of stymieing Bhajan’s attempts to take up her position since March 17, when Bhajan was first appointed.

The accusations were made at the trial of Bhajan's lawsuit against the EoT, Prowell-Raphael, and the Attorney General.

Presiding over Bhajan’s judicial review application and claim – as the matter is being heard in a rolled-up hearing – is Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams, who will give her decision on November 23.

Bhajan’s lead attorney Alvin Fitzpatrick, SC, said Prowell-Raphael's claim that she and the tribunal tried to facilitate Bhajan's appointment were “simply untrue and disingenuous.”

He slammed Prowell-Raphael for failing to disclose she was making “active attempts” to have Bhajan’s appointment terminated on baseless grounds.

Fitzpatrick pointed to an April 6 letter Prowell-Raphael sent to President Paula-Mae Weekes, in which she sought to have Bhajan’s appointment revoked on the basis of her disability. He raised the possibility of Prowell-Raphael being biased against Bhajan by virtue of this letter,

Bhajan who was born without arms, is an attorney and a national awardee. Weekes appointed her for three years as one of the tribunal’s lay assessors.

“Here you have the chairman of the EOT, a body set up by Parliament to protect against discrimination of the disabled, seeking to have the appointment terminated on the basis of Bhajan's disability.”

Bhajan claims she has been unable to take up the job since she took her oath, has not been given any information, is being treated with “scant regard,” and has not been paid for six months.

Bhajan said after receiving her instruments, she tried to contact the tribunal several times by phone and e-mail on when she could take up her post.She said she was eventually told the tribunal did not have the “logistics and/or financial wherewithal” to accommodate another lay assessor.

Fitzpatrick said the tribunal's explanations were “shallow, disingenuous and shameful,” especially since the tribunal continues to operate virtually.

“The building might be closed, but the business of the tribunal does not stop…and ought not to stop.”

He said on its own evidence, there were 19 active matters before the tribunal.

Fitzpatrick pointed out that even the Attorney General agreed there were serious constitutional breaches.

RESPECT PRESIDENT'S DECISION

The AG's attorney Rishi Dass said it was important for the decision of the President to be respected.

“It is unacceptable for any public officer to disregard (it), and for this lengthy period. You don’t get to flout the decision, you come to the court and challenge it.”

He said there was an obligation for the EoT to be properly constituted with two lay assessors, and to uphold and respect the rights of the appo