A High Court judge has awarded a retired police constable $60,000 in vindicatory damages after ruling in his favour over the failure of the State to pay him his lawfully due pension and gratuity upon his retirement.
Samuel Friday, of Point Fortin, joined the service in May 1984 and retired in December 2019.
Friday's attorneys Prakash Ramadhar and Ted Roopnarine spoke on his behalf at a press conference on Friday at their law office in San Fernando.
Ramadhar said, like countless other police and public servants, his client suffered a horrible injustice.
He said it was only after he and Roopnarine filed the claim for constitutional relief that payments were made to Friday in October 2021.
The attorney said Friday was no longer receiving his salary, pension or gratuity and suffered the natural consequence of hardship.
Friday's mortgage payments were due, and the bank wrote to him threatening legal action.
"He was at the peril of actually losing his home when we intervened, and the bank stayed off from taking proceedings to take his house," Ramadhar said.
The attorney added that the mortgage, combined with everyday expenses and the covid19 pandemic, made it impossible for Friday to earn enough to live on..
During his two-year wait, Friday "literally was made almost a beggar."
Apart from the vindicatory damages, Justice Ricky Rahim ruled on Tuesday that Friday is entitled to compensatory damages at 2.5 per cent per year on the then-outstanding mortgage payments.
The court ruled that the State failed to pay Friday's lawfully due pensions within a reasonable time of the date of his retirement, breaching his right to the enjoyment of his property.
The State also has to pay Friday the costs of the claim, to be assessed by a registrar in default of agreement.
Ramadhar said, "We are very grateful for the judiciary in Trinidad and Tobago recognising the injustice that was meted out to Mr Friday in this particular case. Certainly, this has far wider consequences, because we have several other clients who have suffered similar fates."
There are many across the public service, Ramadhar said, who suffer the indignity of being treated less than in a dignified manner and go from pillar to post to try to get their pensions and gratuities.
"In this judgment, it is my humble view that there is a call for efficiency to be the foremost consideration when dealing with our brothers and sisters in the public service. Efficiency is what will save this nation. Inefficiency in large part would have caused us to be where we are today," Ramadhar said.
"The time has come for TT to change its course, where we take for granted a sort of a laissez-faire attitude within the public service to deal with people who gave their lives in public service."
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