JC fights back in Reid saga

The operators of Jamaica College (JC) have rejected former principal Ruel Reid’s claim for at least $10 million in incentive payments and are pushing for his lawsuit to be thrown out.

Reid, a former education minister who resigned in 2019 amid corruption and fraud allegations, filed a lawsuit in July against the Jamaica College Trust, the legal owners of the all-boys institution, and Jamaica College Foundation, the charity arm.

He has accused the trust of breaching its contract with him by not paying a $2 million annual incentive payment and $1.4 million in salary top-ups for the period 2017-2021. He was granted leave to take up the ministerial portfolio and resigned as principal in November 2021 with a $23 million settlement.

However, the JC Trust and the JC Foundation are denying the allegations, with the trust asserting that Reid’s claim “has no real prospect of succeeding based on the ‘undisputed documentary evidence and the law’.”

“There is no agreement between the 1st defendant (JC Trust) and the claimant for the monthly salary top-up,” the trust said in documents filed in the Supreme Court on November 3. “There is no agreement between the first defendant that the annual incentive payments made to the claimant would continue after the claimant ceased to perform the functions of principal of Jamaica College.”

The JC Trust, whose chairman is Derek Jones, asked that the Supreme Court grant summary judgment in its favour, essentially saying a trial is not necessary and the matter can be disposed of just based on the evidence it has provided.

If the judge decides against that, the trust has asked for summary judgment on Reid’s claim for monthly salary top-ups.

The foundation, which is chaired by Christopher Williams, is also seeking summary judgment, but said the court may also order that Reid’s lawsuit against it be struck out because it “discloses no reasonable grounds for bringing the claim”.

Reid has claimed that when he took up the post of principal in 2007, the trust agreed to make an annual incentive payment of $500,000 “once he retained the post of principal”, according to his court filings.

“Therefore, the claimant will contend that the only condition which would trigger the payment of the incentive was that he retains the post of principal of JC,” the document stated.

Reid said he later requested and was granted an incentive increase to $2 million annually, which took effect in 2008. Approval was also given for the figure to be adjusted annually to reflect Jamaica’s inflation rate.

Also in 2011, Reid said he sought a monthly salary top-up of $30,000, which was granted and disbursement began in September of that year.

The JC Trust admitted that it agreed to the incentive, which it said was to incentivise Reid to accept the job and to carry out the duties as principal.

However, the payment “was not based on the claimant retaining the post of principal”, the trust said in its defence dated October 31.

It also said there was no agreement with Reid for salary top-ups, noting that wages were the responsibility of the Government, while it dealt with incentives.

TRUST DENIES REID’S CLAIM

Regarding the outstanding amounts Reid is claiming, the trust said he “was not entitled to the incentive payment from or after 2017 as he ceased to carry out the duties of the post of principal”.

The JC Trust has also denied Reid’s claim that he made demands for payments between 2017 and 2021.

The foundation, meanwhile, said it had no contract with Reid for payments of “any kind, whether incentive payments or increase to his monthly salary”.

Wayne Robinson, who was appointed to act as principal shortly after Reid went to the education ministry, remains in the position.

The JC board has recommended Robinson for permanent appointment, but the Teachers’ Services Commission raised concerns about whether he has met all the ministry’s minimum qualifications.

Reid is represented by the law firm Samuda & Johnson, while the case for the JC Trust and JC Foundation is being led by King’s Counsel Michael Hylton, a consultant at the firm Hylton Powell.

The ministry covered $16.1 million of Reid’s 2021 settlement, with the trust paying the remaining $7.2 million. The deal secured Reid’s resignation and prevented him from retaking the principal chair. The board had recommended an extension of his leave but the ministry rejected it.

Reid, his wife Sharen, their daughter Sharelle, former Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) President Professor Fritz Pinnock, and Jamaica Labour Party Councillor Kim Brown Lawrence are to stand trial over allegations that nearly $50 million was diverted from the CMU.

jovan.johnson@gleanerjm.com