SVG OPPOSITION LEADER SUED BY FORMER SECRETARY KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Lawyers for Rishatha Nicholls, the former secretary to Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace, have written to him claiming that he has defamed their client and are demanding apologies and compensation. The Law Firm of Marks & Marks, in two letters to Eustace on November 12, said that he had defamed Nicholls during calls he made to a radio programme on April 23 and 24, this year. The lawyers contend that Eustace in his statements on April 23 “meant and were understood to mean that Mrs. Rishatha Nicholls was involved in corruption and had committed the criminal act of theft, an offence that is punishable by imprisonment. “By your false and malicious utterances, you have gravely injured our client’s character and reputation,” the attorneys said, demanding that Eustace issues a public apology on the same radio programme and publish the apology in the local newspapers. They are also demanding that Eustace fully retracts “these false and malicious statements and publicly admit that they are untrue. “This retraction can be included in the public apology or published separately both on the said radio programme and local newspapers,” the attorneys said. They are also demanding that Eustace gives “a written undertaking to our client that you would not publish these false and malicious statements or any other defamatory statements against her” and that Eustace compensate Nicholls “in an amount to be agreed upon by our Chambers”. “Failure to meet any of these demands within seven days hereof would result in legal proceedings being brought against you in the High Court of Justice.” In another letter, the attorneys said that statements reportedly made by Eustace on his radio programme on April 24 also defamed their client and they are also demanding that Eustace publish an apology n the media and that he pays compensation in a sum to be approved by the firm. The letters demanding apologies and compensation are the latest in a string of developments since Nicholls was employed as Eustace’s secretary from August 1, 2001 to March 28, 2013, when she was fired without severance pay. She brought a claim of unfair dismissal case before the Hearing Officer of the Department of Labour, who ruled that Nicholls was unfairly terminated. Eustace appealed that ruling, and the Appeals Tribunal of the Department of Labour on March 14, 2014 upheld the decision of the Hearing Officer and ordered that Nicholls be compensated in the sum of EC$16,199.99 (One EC dollar =US$0.37 cents).
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 15:02:29 +0000
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