Fri | Mar 29, 2024

Lawyer: Petrojam maliciously harassed ex-manager after firing

Published:Thursday | February 21, 2019 | 12:18 AMLivern Barrett/Senior Staff Reporter
Roselee Scott-Heron, former HR manager at Petrojam.
Roselee Scott-Heron, former HR manager at Petrojam.

Painting a picture of cruel victimisation, former Petrojam human resource manager Roselee Scott-Heron felt wronged by her sudden dismissal two days before Christmas in 2016, one of her attorneys has revealed.

Symone Mayhew, the lead attorney for Scott-Heron, said, too, that her client is disappointed by the decision of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) to award her one year’s salary in the case she filed against Petrojam for unjustified dismissal.

It is the first public comment attributed to Scott-Heron since she was fired by then Petrojam general manager Floyd Grindley.

“Her experience was very difficult,” Mayhew told The Gleaner.

“She lost her employment, and she felt that she was harassed and that the company displayed malice towards her in the days after her dismissal,” the attorney added.

Mayhew, however, declined to comment further, saying that she is studying the IDT award to determine the next move for the former Petrojam human resource manager.

The IDT, in its ruling delivered on Monday, ordered Petrojam to pay Scott-Heron 12 months’ salary as “compensation for her unjustifiable dismissal”.

At the time of dismissal, reports indicate that the former human resource manager was being close to $6 million a year in basic salary, which rose to $9.8 million with allowances.

The IDT also ordered that payments made to Scott-Heron after her termination “should not be deducted from this payment”.

Mayhew, who asked the IDT to award her client two years’ salary, raised concerns that there are no established guidelines from the IDT setting out the basis for their awards.

“We need clear guidelines as to what are some of the things they consider in their awards,” the attorney continued.

Scott-Heron, in making her case to the IDT, claimed that a month after Grindley took the job as Petrojam general manager, he summoned her to his office on December 23, 2016, and told her that she was being dismissed with immediate effect.

Lawyers for Petrojam indicated in their arguments before the IDT that she was dismissed because of “the general manager’s dissatisfaction with her performance and inability to manage her portfolio”.

Scott-Heron’s attorneys, however, indicated that neither Grindley nor anyone at Petrojam had expressed dissatisfaction with the way their client carried out her duties.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com