Former provost and acting president of the University of T&T (UTT) Dr Fazal Ali is suing the tertiary institution for wrongful dismissal.
In a lawsuit filed in the Port-of-Spain High Court, Ali is claiming that the university’s board acted unfairly and unreasonably when it dismissed him based on his alleged failure to act in its best interest in terms of human resource management during his tenure.
The case came up for hearing before Justice Frank Seepersad on Tuesday but was adjourned to May 27 as Ali’s lawyers had only filed an amended statement of case on Monday.
According to the court documents, Ali, who is currently the chairman of the Teaching Service Commission, first joined UTT in 2002 when he was assigned to the office of the campus principal to work on special projects.
In May 2012, Ali was hired for the position of provost, which oversees the academic community, curriculum content, exams and student disciple. The following month, he was asked to temporarily hold the position of president, which handles corporate governance of university facilities, procurement, budgets and finance. He held that position until the following year.
In May 2015, Ali was given a new three-year contract, however, shortly after a new board was appointed following the general election in September, that year, Ali’s performance was reviewed.
Several months later, Ali was informed that he was placed on administrative leave to facilitate an audit ordered by the board. Ali claimed that he was contacted by a newspaper reporter to comment on the issue before he received official confirmation.
At the end of the audit, Ali was charged with two disciplinary offences over his alleged role in ending the employment of a senior lecturer and a programme administrator. The disciplinary tribunal led by former Industrial Court vice president Gregory Baker found Ali guilty and he was terminated.
In his lawsuit, Ali contended that the board and tribunal failed to consider that he had a minor role in not renewing the duo’s contracts as that fell within the remit of its vice president of human resources and the previous board.
Ali claimed that he was merely asked whether the absence of the two employees would affect the university’s ongoing academic programmes and that his opinion was consistent with that of several other senior staff members.
“In any event if, which is denied, there was any misconduct by the claimant the same did not justify the wrongful dismissal of the claimant and was not in accordance with good industrial relations practices,” the statement of case stated.
Through his claim, Ali is seeking almost $800,000 in compensation, which represents the salary and benefits he would have received for the remaining eight months on his contract.
At the time of his termination, Ali monthly remuneration package included a salary of $55,000, a $10,000 vehicle allowance and an $11,000 housing allowance.
Ali is being represented by Senior Counsel Russell Martineau and Fyard Hosein and attorneys Anjali Maharaj and Aadam Hosein. Stephen Singh represented UTT.