A former senior immigration officer has been awarded $41,962.75 as compensation for unfair dismissal by the Industrial Court, in spite of a finding that it was mostly her fault for her own dismissal.
According to a recently published Court judgement, Annabelle Nicholas was dismissed in December 2020 for her action which the Immigration Department described as “bringing the Department into disrepute, and…may be tantamount to a criminal offence including a breach of…the Immigration and Passport Act, a breach of…the Prevention of Corruption Act, Misbehaviour in Public Office, fraud, and a breach of trust.”
Nicholas took the matter to the Industrial Court in May 2022, alleging that the Immigration Department denied her a fair procedure in her dismissal.
Nicholas, who had been employed at the Immigration Department since 2002, reportedly assisted Theobaldo Noso—the owner of T and N Multilingual Services, which offers non-citizens services, including assistance with their residency applications.
Nicholas, while serving as a Senior Immigration Officer, would occasionally help Noso’s clients with their residency extension applications, and getting their applications fast-tracked.
In July 2020, Nicholas, helped Rafael Sanchez, a Dominican Republic national and a client of Noso’s, prepare his residency extension application “in collaboration with or on the instruction of Noso.”
According to the judgement, Nicholas obtained an advantage for Sanchez by utilising her connections and familiarity with her colleagues to secure an appointment for him.
They also stated that, “by herself or in concert with Noso, [Nicholas] deliberately or recklessly led” Sanchez to believe that, by paying $500 which she received in her car outside her workplace, that his application would have succeeded without additional payment.
Although the Court found that the former immigration officer was at fault for bringing the Department into question in relation to its transparency and credibility, the department did not conduct the dismissal in a fair manner.
The first concern the Court had was that during the investigations into the issue, the department kept Nicholas out of the loop throughout, including failure to provide her with copies of the letters, reports and meeting minutes regarding the accusations as well as its conclusion.
“Notwithstanding the seriousness and the potential impact of the allegations against her, the employer appeared to have had scant regard for the long tenure of the employee.
“Such a long tenure of over 15 years should have resulted in a more conscious effort on the part of the employer to conduct the entire process in a more open and transparent manner,” the Court said.
It was noted that the department attempted to have her transferred into the Ministry of Tourism before deciding to unilaterally terminate her employment.
The Court felt that this “flip-flop,” especially as the decision was taken without Nicholas or her lawyer knowing while she was placed on sick leave, was “blatantly unreasonable.”
“Having set the transfer in motion, and engaging the Permanent Secretary and the Minister of Tourism in the process, it was unreasonable for the employer to unilaterally abort the process by withdrawing the transfer without any advance notice to, or consultation with the employee and/or her then-engaged legal representative,” they said.
The Court awarded Nicholas compensation of $4,524.92 notice pay, $68,707.52 for loss of protection from unfair dismissal, $22,283.52 for immediate loss, $4,866 for loss of fringe benefits, and $4,524.94 as the Court felt the unfair dismissal made her less attractive to other potential employers.
In total, the court awarded her $104,906.88, but said that due to her being 60% blameworthy for her dismissal, the government is expected to pay just over $41,000 by January 15, 2024 to her.
