Court throws out JC’S lawsuit against former old boys’ head
THE Supreme Court on Friday threw out the lawsuit brought by acting principal of Jamaica College Wayne Robinson against former president of the Jamaica College Old Boys’ Association (JCOBA) Major Basil Jarrett, charging misappropriation of millions of dollars from the sale of uniforms at the school.
Robinson had sued Jarrett for an account of how proceeds from the sale of the uniforms — which were given to the association in a fund-raising effort — were used under his leadership of the association, alleging dishonesty on the former army man’s part.
But Friday, Justice Opal Smith rejected Robinson’s claim on the grounds that he had no standing to bring such a claim in his personal capacity as principal of the institution and that Major Jarrett was not a proper party to the claim as at all times he was acting as president of the JCOBA.
Jarrett had maintained in his affidavits and his application to have the matter struck from the records that the suit was an abuse of the courts as an independent auditor who reviewed the financials found no evidence of malfeasance or misappropriation.
In court filings Jarrett had insisted that the lawsuit was a malicious attempt to remove him from the JC board and to destroy his reputation following his objections to the school board retaining and eventually paying off former Education Minister Ruel Reid in 2021 as controversy swirled around Reid’s possible return to the high school as principal after the Education Ministry rejected a recommendation from the school board for a five-year extension of special leave granted to Reid in March 2016 to serve as education minister.
On November 20, 2021 the day that the leave was set to expire, Reid and the school board issued a joint release advising of his immediate resignation.
Reid remains before the court, having been arrested in October 2019 along with his wife Sharen, their daughter Sharelle, Jamaica Labour Party Councillor Kim Brown Lawrence, and Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) President Fritz Pinnock.
Reid and Pinnock are facing charges of breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act, conspiracy to defraud, misconduct in a public office at common law, and breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act in relation to the education ministry and CMU.
Jarrett on Friday expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision but said the legal challenges are still not at an end as Robinson and other members of the board have sued him in another matter. The other individuals named on those lawsuits are current JC Board Chairman Lance Hylton, former Chairman Michael Bernard, Custos of St Andrew Ian Forbes, Jimmy Hylton, Alan Beckford, Anthony Robinson, Renee Rattray, and Dominique Platt.
“Obviously I am satisfied with today’s judgment and see it as a victory for standing up for principle, truth, and in defence of oneself against even the most powerful of persons. But this is not the end. These men had taken out two lawsuits against me and I expect to vigorously defend those claims as I did this one,” Jarrett told the Jamaica Observer.
Friday, in dismissing the claim, Justice Smith ordered Robinson to pay costs. She also granted Robinson permission to appeal.