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Jason Bent v Jada Builders Inc – Employee awarded over $300,000

 

This is an interesting case which demonstrates a clear lack of knowledge and understanding by the employer about the Employment Rights Act 2012.  The company failed to follow the correct process as required by the ERT. It was operating in the past using very archaic approaches.

The facts of the case are as follows:

1.       Mr. Bent was employed by Jada Builders Inc as a Quantity Surveyor for a monthly salary of $10,200.

2.       He was one of two black local employees in the Commercial Department, the other two employees being white expatriates. Their salaries are unknown.

3.       On 8 February 2019, Mr. Bent was summoned to a meeting at which the Commercial Manager, the Chief Personnel Officer and the Human Resources Manager were present. The company asked him to take time off the job without pay because business was slow.

 4.       He refused stating that his wife had recently given birth to a baby, and he needed the job to support his family. He also told the company that he was working on a number of projects which could not be completed if he was away from the job.  

5.       The Commercial Manager then proposed that Mr. Bent be laid off for a period of 13 weeks during which time he could be recalled by the company to work on projects as required. Bad suggestion. This idea was rejected by Mr. Bent.

 6.       Mr. Bent countered that the company reduce the hours of all the employees in the commercial department and that they work on a part time basis. The company confirmed that the idea of part time work was a good one and that they would speak to the other employees.

 7.       Later that day on the 8 February 2019, Mr. Bent was informed by the Commercial Manager that after speaking to the employees, the part time arrangement would become effective on Monday, 11 February 2019.

 8.       Mr. Bent testified however that later that same day after speaking to the employees in the commercial department he discovered that the part time arrangement would only be applied to the black employees and the that the white expatriates had been excluded.

 9.       Mr. Brent went back to the Commercial Manager and asked him for an explanation re the exclusion of the white employees and was told that the two expats would soon be included in the part time work arrangement.

10.    In the weeks that followed Mr. Bent said he observed that the white expats continued to work on a full-time basis while he and the other black employee worked on a part time basis.

 11.   Mr. Bent reported that he spoke to both the Office Manager and the Human Resources Manager and informed them that the company acted prejudicially and that his employment rights had been violated.

 12.   On February 27, 2019, Mr. Bent was summoned to a meeting by the Chief Personnel Officer. At the meeting he was informed about a pricing error he had made in a tender document. The Chief Personnel Officer suspended him at the end of the meeting and told him that he would be informed about the company’s decision on the 4 March 2019.

13.   At the meeting on the 4 March 2019, Mr. Bent’s services were terminated by the Chief Personnel Officer. He was however given an opportunity to resign. It was further proposed that a debt of $5000 would be written off and a letter of recommendation would be provided. Mr. Bent said would think about the offer and get back to him.

14.    To find out what happened next please click below to read the entire decision.

 Jason-Bent-v-Jada-Builder-Decision-dated-March-8-2022.pdf (labour.gov.bb)



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