Former Commissioner of Education, Dr Freddie Evans had his day in court and walked away with a substantial settlement, following legal action against the Governor and the Government of Bermuda over his dismissal.
Dr Evans, who was fired by Governor John Rankin in October last year launched legal proceedings against the dismissal and ultimately won his case, with an undisclosed sum allocated as payment.
Puisne Judge Stephen Hellman delivered his ruling in chambers on Thursday, and granted Dr Evans indemnity costs.
The parties agreed to settle on March 29 and the terms of the settlement will be kept confidential. But the agreement, as of Friday, had yet to be signed.
Dr Evans is represented by lawyer Mark Diel, of Marshall Diel & Myers. Lawyer Gregory Howard appeared for the Attorney General’s Chambers.
At the centre of the dispute, is the move by the Ministry of Education’s Permanent Secretary Valerie Robinson-James.
Dr Evans was informed by the Ministry that he had been removed from the job, but he maintained that only the Governor had the power to dismiss him.
That was followed by a letter sent by the Public Service Commission to Dr Evans’s lawyer Mark Diel, and the Ministry’s PS, Valerie Robinson-James saying “an administrative error” in correspondence sent to Dr Evans did not mean that he had been fired.
The letter also stated “nor has he been confirmed in his post”. Dr Evans was subsequently removed from his post on October 13 by Governor Rankin.
But Mr Diel countered that the sacking came too late to be valid. He argued that Dr Evans could only be fired by the Governor during his probationary period, which ended just over a week before the Governor confirmed the dismissal.
The case was adjourned to April 26.
