Clarke unfair dismissal claim may head to tribunal as conciliation talks collapse

The case in which popular radio broadcaster and veteran calypsonian Ronald “De Announcer” Clarke is claiming unfair dismissal by Starcom Network has been heard by the Chief Labour Officer but without agreement being reached.

 

Senior counsel for Clarke, Hal Gollop, said on Monday that the conciliation meeting, which also involved legal counsel for the radio station, failed to reach a final agreement on the contentious issues at hand.

 

“We met with the Chief Labour Officer to try for a conciliation meeting; they [Starcom] have not come to any conclusive position as yet…they are to get back to us. We put a proposal on the table, based on the ground that the man was unfairly dismissed,” Gollop told Barbados TODAY in an interview, adding that his client had good reason to advance that argument.

 

“Because they paid [Clarke] a sum of money; and when you dismiss a man summarily like that for gross misconduct, you should only pay him vacation pay. Anything over that is regarded as an admission that he was unfairly dismissed, and you are paying that money as part-payment for damages incurred. So, we raised that with them. So, if you accept that as the case, you should compensate this man under the Employment Rights Act. The lawyer representing them said he would get back to us within a week with their board’s decision.”

 

Gollop warned that when the company returns to the table and there is no reconciliation, he will be taking the matter to the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT).

 

In a brief comment on the meeting held on Thursday, Clarke said: “I think it went well,” but preferred his attorney speak more fully on the matter.

 

Clarke said he is ready to return to the calypso stage as De Announcer for Crop Over 2026.

 

It was in November last year that he was dismissed by Starcom after the company found him guilty of serious misconduct following an internal disciplinary hearing, in a move that shocked the media and entertainment community.

 

His termination letter, signed by Noel Wood, chief executive officer of parent company the Nation Group, informed Clarke — who was programme director of Voice of Barbados — that the “misconduct” related to comments he made on the regular Marcia Weekes Show streamed on YouTube on July 16. 

 

His remarks referred to Starcom’s objection to his performing his controversial hit calypso National Carol Festival in the Pic-o-de-Crop competition.

 

The company identified three of the seven statements made during the broadcast as breaches of Starcom’s Policies and Procedures Manual. The letter stated: “The statements were made in relation to Starcom Network Inc. and in a public forum, are false and malicious, and obviously and significantly detrimental to the best interests of Starcom Network in so far as they are disparaging, undermine the credibility [of] and directly attack the company.”

 

One of Clarke’s offending statements cited was: “‘We have this fear of addressing what they call the elephant in the room… when you are in an arena, transparency and fact are an expectation of the people that support you, whether they listen to you, whether they spend money with you, whether they work for you. It’s hard to be in a situation where you see that is not being delivered.”

 

Days later, Starcom Network general manager Anthony Greene issued a statement contending their action had nothing to do with his 2025 calypso hit.

 

Greene pointed out that Starcom ended its relationship with Clarke following the conclusion of a formal disciplinary process which concluded on November 7.

 

He said the disciplinary process was engaged with Clarke in pursuance of the company’s internal protocols, national labour laws, and conducted by lawyers on both sides.

(EJ)