A woman police constable (WPC) has been given the green light to sue the T&T Police Service Examinations Board over its move to rescind its decision to allow her to sit a promotional examination several months after she completed it.
High Court Judge Carol Gobin granted WPC Elicia Samaroo-Ali leave to pursue her judicial review lawsuit against the board and the Commissioner of Police earlier this month.
According to her court filings, obtained by Guardian Media, Samaroo-Ali obtained a BSc in Information Systems and Management before joining the T&T Police Service (TTPS) in January 2019.
After completing her one-year probation, Samaroo-Ali applied to the board to be a candidate in promotion examination for the rank of corporal. Her application was initially approved and she sat the examination, which she eventually passed in September last year.
In May, the TTPS’s human resource department contacted Samaroo-Ali and said she had been allowed to participate in error, as the Police Service Regulations only allows officers with three years service to be eligible for promotion.
In the lawsuit, Samaroo-Ali’s attorneys are contending she could have sat the examination despite having no prospect of being promoted due to her lack of experience.
“Being considered for promotion is not the same thing as being allowed to sit a promotion examination,” they said.
“Hence, a constable can pass the promotion examination within his first three years but he may only be considered for promotion to the rank of Corporal after he completed three years as a constable,” they added, as they claimed she had a legitimate expectation that her results would stand.
Through the lawsuit, Samaroo-Ali is seeking declarations that her legitimate expectation had been breached and she was treated unfairly. She is also seeking declarations that her constitutional rights to protection of the law and equality of treatment from a public authority had been breached and compensation for such.
Attached to the lawsuit was an affidavit from Samaroo-Ali, who is currently assigned to the Special Branch. In the document, Samaroo-Ali said she was deeply troubled and disappointed by the board’s decision.
“I have always tried to excel in the TTPS in the discharge of my duties, progress my career and provide for my daughter while providing an example for her to follow. I wrote the Corporal examination as a stepping stone to advance my career and better my life,” she said.
Samaroo-Ali is being represented by Anand Ramlogan, SC, Jayanti Lutchmedial, Kent Samlal, Robert Abdool-Mitchell, Natasha Bisram and Vishaal Siewsaran.