The family of late national table tennis champion Dexter St Louis has agreed to withdraw his lawsuit against the T&T Table Tennis Association (TTTTA) after it agreed to establish a fund, for up-and-coming athletes, in his honour.
The decision was announced as the lawsuit, which St Louis and his step-daughter Rheann Chung filed after they were excluded from the team representing this country at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, last year, was scheduled to go to trial before Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell on Monday.
When the case was called in the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain, attorneys for both parties entered a consent order which effectively brought the matter to an end.
In the order, the parties agreed to a joint statement on the settlement of the case.
"The parties having recognised that a long, contested High Court action would only serve to deepen divides, entrench positions and, perhaps, financially destabilise the sport of table tennis in this country," the order stated.
In the order, the association also accepted that its decisions may have been perceived by St Louis and Chung to be unfair.
The order also defined the scope of the proposed Dexter St Louis Memorial Fund.
According to the document, the fund is to be capitalised through donations with up-and-coming table tennis players receiving annual grants and/or scholarships.
Criteria for selection of recipients will be set by the TTTTA and St Louis' family. Recipients will be selected by a three-member panel comprising of a representative from the TTTTA, one from St Louis' family and an independent representative selected by the two parties.
In their lawsuit, St Louis and 33-year-old Chung were questioning the process used by the association to select Aaron Wilson, Yuvraj Dookram and Arun Ramnarine to the team for the Commonwealth Games.
They were seeking damages for breach of contract, conspiracy and unlawful interference and an order that the issue be resolved through
the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC)'s arbitration process.
In defence of the lawsuit, the TTTTA is claiming that the duo was informed via email of the selection criteria and chose not to participate.
It also alleged that they only decided to challenge the process after it was completed and that it had closely followed the TTOC's guidelines and deadlines in making its selection.
St Louis and Chung sought and obtained an injunction against the association, which was eventually upheld on appeal.
After two months of legal wrangling, the association eventually decided to send both athletes to ensure that this country was represented.
Several months later, St Louis and Chung were forced to file a separate lawsuit against the association after they were excluded from the team for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games.
St Louis, 51, who lived in Bordeaux, France, with his family, passed away in May after a short illness.
St Louis and Chung were represented by Matthew Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne, while Dinesh Rambally, Kiel Taklalsingh, and Stefan Ramkissoon.