By Lolita Long, New York EditorA MOTION filed by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) to dismiss the case brought against it by Marie Deeble Walker, a former employee, was heard yesterday in the New York Supreme Court, NY County.
Deeble Walker, a former executive of the JTB, brought a US$20 million lawsuit against the board after she was fired. She is contending that her reputation was "irreparably damaged", according to her lawyer Percival Clarke.
IMMUNITY
The JTB in court yesterday claimed "immunity" from the suit, as it is a foreign agency and that "no legal action can be taken against it in the US."
The JTB is seeking that the matter be thrown out and not be entertained. Attorneys representing the JTB are from the Long Island-based law firm of Morritt Hock Hamriff and Harowitz.
The matter is now to be decided by Judge Shirley Kornreich of the NY Supreme Court who will rule whether the JTB can be sued in New York or if, in fact, it is immune from the suit.
UNFORTUNATE
"It's unfortunate that after all the 22 years service to the JTB it had to come to this," Deeble Walker told The Gleaner yesterday.
She said she had hoped the matter would have been "resolved in a more diplomatic and sensitive way."
Clarke says that the writ, filed in December last year, was still demanding judgment on various issues against the JTB. He is demanding: that Deeble Walker be reinstated to her position as advertising manager; repayment of US$5,000 spent to visit Jamaica for a hearing that was denied; US$10 million for defamation of character; and US$10 million for emotional distress.
The matter came to a head, after Deeble Walker, wife of Judge Sam Walker, the newly-elected Judge of the Westchester County Court, White Plains, New York, was fired from her job. The JTB said it had "lost confidence in her judgement as a senior officer."
MISAPPROPRIATION
An anonymous e-mail that was widely circulated charged that there was misappropriation and bad management at the agency. Subsequently, an audit of the operations of the New York office was ordered by then Tourism Minister Portia Simpson Miller. Noel Mignott, then Deputy Director of Tourism, and Yvonne Sawyers, the NY accountant and manager, both resigned.
Recently, it was reported that several overseas offices of the JTB are to be closed soon.
