Perriott Loses Big in Appeals Court

Michael Young

In 2007, Christine Perriott, former general secretary of the Belize Communications Workers Union, who was employed as a technician at Belize Telemedia Limited, was released from her job over allegations of abandoning her work to focus primarily on duties with the union. She sued and won a judgment in the Supreme Court for over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But dissatisfied with certain aspects of the ruling of then-Justice John Muria, she appealed. On the last day of the current Court of Appeal session held today in Belize City, the court delivered judgment, and it went against Perriott, who represented herself at trial. The amount of damages she won in the lower court has been reduced to about one hundred and twenty-three thousand dollars by the panel. According to B.T.L.’s attorney Senior Counsel Michael Young, B.T.L. did not challenge the lower court’s ruling on the circumstances of Perriott’s firing, they thought the damages awarded were excessive and the Court of Appeal apparently agreed. 

Michael Young, Attorney for B.T.L.

“Before B.T.L. was taken over under that group, Miss Perriott was dismissed and she sued on the basis that she was dismissed because of her work with the union. And the court found in her favour and awarded her damages in the amount of approximately three hundred and five thousand or something like that together with interest. And the new B.T.L. under government appealed the matter, but we dealt only with the issue of the amount of damages. At the appeal itself, we did not contest that the finding that she was dismissed because of her union activities. We only contested the amount of damages that was awarded. And we were successful in that regard and so the court reduced the damages from three hundred and odd thousand dollars to some one hundred and twenty-three thousand dollars with interest.”

Reporter

“For what reasons was the appeal in regard to the reduction in damages?”

Michael Young

“Well that the damages that were awarded were excessive and we thought that it was excessive on the basis of, in particular, a decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice. I haven’t read the judgement as yet because I just received it, but I believe that it will be the case the court of appeal had agreed with that position.”

Perriott had been re-instated by the Supreme Court but eventually left her position by her own choice. After a stint as Human Resources Director for the Belize City Council under friend and colleague Mayor Zenaida Moya, which resulted in another firing, she left the country to study in Oklahoma, U.S.A. along with her husband, former union president and Senator Paul Perriott. Young says they will be getting in touch with the former worker as to how the matter will be settled. Either side may decide to take the matter to the Caribbean Court of Justice. While Perriott represented herself at trial, she was not present for today’s judgment.