By Barbara Gayle, Staff ReporterTHE BETTING Gaming and Lotteries Commission was on Monday barred by a Supreme Court order from filling the post of chief accountant which has been vacant since August 28 when it fired Patrick Hall.
The injunction is to remain in force until the Judicial Review Court hears the motion in which Hall is seeking an order to quash the Commission's decision to fire him.
Hall was dismissed after investigation by the Audit Committee of the board revealed that a yearly incentive was paid to Hall and the workers without deducting the taxes and statutory deductions prescribed by the tax laws. The Commission said Hall's failure to make the deductions resulted in the Commission having to pay out a total of $14 million in taxes, penalties and interest.
Hall who is being represented by attorney-at-law Bert Samuels, of the law firm Knight Pickersgill Dowding and Samuels, took the matter to the Supreme Court and got leave to go to the Judicial Review Court for an order to quash the Commission's decision to fire him.
Mr. Justice David Pitter granted the application for leave and also granted an injunction restraining the Commission from filling the post of chief accountant until the Judicial Review Court hears the matter.
Hall is contending that the Commission breached the rules of natural justice on August 28 when it unlawfully terminated his services. He is accusing the Commission of acting with bias against him in coming to its conclusions. He said the Commission failed to advise him that there was a disciplinary hearing into the matter on August 28 which could result in his dismissal but rather stated that it was an investigative hearing.
The Commission had sent Hall a letter dated August 14, setting out the charges and requested him to attend an investigative hearing on August 28 as the "foregoing constitutes a serious and wilful misconduct of the performance of your duties for which you are employed." The letter stated that the Commission reserved the right to take whatever action was deemed appropriate upon the conclusion of its investigation into the matter. Hall did not attend the meeting.
After Hall was fired about 20 employees of the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC) stopped working on September 2, in protest against his dismissal. The workers claimed that Hall was being used as a scapegoat and claimed that the board knew about the non-payment of the taxes.
Hall claimed that he was advised by his supervisors to make the said payments without tax deductions, although the matter was raised by external auditors, KPMG Peat Marwick.
