Caswell says payout to ex-Jada worker should be lesson to employers

By Anesta Henry

General Secretary of the Unity Workers’ Union (UWU) Caswell Franklyn has urged employers to pay close attention to the case in which an 83-year-old amputee was awarded thousands for being unfairly dismissed by Jada Builders Incorporated.
On May 30, the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) unanimously ruled that the construction company must pay Pauline Wood $21 000 by June 28, 2023, after sending her home on August 27, 2015, because of her age.
Franklyn, who represented Wood in the case, told Barbados TODAY the ruling should be a serious message to employers to follow the necessary employment rights rules when dismissing workers.
“This would make employers sit up and take notice. And her case is not unique, it is just that she is the only person that had the courage to go forward. I have had several people who have refused to fight. One man said, ‘I will go long, my wife told me don’t make any noise’, and if he had won, he was looking at almost $200 000,” he said.
“She [Wood] has now opened up new grounds for others to stand on. It was a long, hard fight because she is now 83 and she got dismissed eight years ago. It was an eight-year-long struggle.”
The ERT Deputy Chairman Kathy-Ann Hamblin had declared in the 10-page judgement that Jada’s undignified, verbal dismissal of Wood with one day’s notice was unfair.
She said the tribunal believed that Wood’s age was the real reason she was sent home, and not a slowdown in construction projects as stated by the company where she worked for 18 years.
The UWU head said he faced challenges being recognised as Wood’s trade union representative, and he, therefore, issued advice to employers about how they treat workers.
“The company cannot decide that they are only going to deal with a particular union or lawyer. And what I would tell employers is to treat their employees as they would expect to be treated if they are in a better position,” the trade union leader said.
“If you treat people well, you wouldn’t have these problems. As a matter of fact, if workers were treated well in this country, I would be picking bottles, I wouldn’t have anything to do. There is just too much bad behaviour at the level of the employers.”
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb