UPDATE: Former Port Authority security officer wins case in court

Ambo says he will appeal despite his court victory
Ambo says he will appeal despite his court victory

Despite winning a four year court battle with his former employer,  the Dominica Air and Seaport Authority (DASPA),  Kenrick Ambo has said, “I will appeal the matter…I am not very satisfied. ”

Ambo took DASPA to court in 2010 for wrongful dismissal.

He began his employment with DASPA in 2005 as a Security Liaison Officer and at the end of 2006 he was detailed to work as shift supervisor.” In March 2008, in response to his request to DASPA management, Ambo was informed by letter that “he was exempt from secular employment during the period Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.” as this period coincides with his Sabbath. However, he was subsequently detailed to work on Saturday 2nd January 2010.He refused. Three weeks later, he was transferred to Port Portsmouth while resident in Roseau.  Ambo continued to refuse to work on his sabbath, despite being denied permission by his employer. He  was later detailed to work as an ordinary security officer instead of his substantive post of shift supervisor. He then wrote to management stating his objections to what he considered “an unlawful order.” In response, he was summoned in writing, to attend a disciplinary hearing for actions described as “insubordination and dereliction of duties.”

Ambo took the matter to court seeking aggravated damages, loss of salary, displacement of allowance and “other increments.”

In his 29 page ruling, handed down on Friday, Justice Errol Thomas stated in part that, “the multiple positions of the CEO ( Benoit Bardouille) in this matter is a manifest contradiction which offend against the letter and spirit of Article 23 of the agreement ( between the union and DASPA) by extension the rules of natural justice both at common law and section 8 (8) of the constitution.  The short point must be that there was no compliance with Article 23 of the agreement since the CEO was judge in his own case which cannot be nullified by the claimant’s waiver of non compliance with the other procedural requirements of Article 23 of the agreement.”

Section 8 (8) of the Dominica Constitution reads: “Any court or other authority prescribed by law for the determination of the existence or extent of any civil right or obligation, shall be established by law and shall be independent and impartial; and where proceedings for such a determination are instituted by any person before such a court or other authority, the case shall be given a fair hearing within a reasonable time.”

The CEO, Justice Thomas said, had no authority or power to order the claimant to perform the duties of an ordinary security officer without regard for his substantive post of shift supervisor and without the claimant being demoted in accordance with the agreement.

The Port Authority has been ordered to pay Ambo some $33,969 in damages.

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47 Comments

  1. PAPAMET!!!!!
    April 15, 2014

    The battle is not ours and as Seventh Day Adventist christains we must fight for what we believe.I’m Dominican and I’ve resided in London for ten years and have never worked on the sabbath for anyone.I have been to many job interviews and i always make it clear before the interview is over,that i am a seventh day adventist and i have turned down many jobs because of lack of respect for my religous beliefs.WHEN WE FIGHT FOR GOD AND DO HIS WILL THEN HE FiGHTS OUR BATTLE FOR US.By the way i am a manager for a security company in London….

  2. PAPAMET!!!!!
    April 15, 2014

    The battle is not ours and as Seventh Day Adventist christains we must fight for what we believe.I’m Dominican and I’ve resided in London for ten years and have never worked on the sabbath for anyone.I have been to many job interviews and i always make it clear before the interview is over,that i am a seventh day adventist and i have turned down many jobs because of lack of respect for my religous beliefs.WHEN WE FIGHT FOR GOD AND DO HIS WILL THEN HE FGHTS OUR BATTLE FOR US.By the way i am a manager for a security company in London….

  3. Regilious Liberty
    April 15, 2014

    Well Mr ambo stand for what is right doh matter wat the haters say about I know is pure vitimzation. Kennrick I know you personally very hard working man. And that how the labour party treat you when you run for them insSalisbury and lost they promised you a compensation and it never full through. That why you cannot follow their wrong doing and when you speak The Gov and Mr head of the port consipire against you . No two if it in the united state you won your self a big case with satisfactory decision. One of the law in the constituon is freedom of worship so Kendrick go back and read your construction and proceed with a larger amount. We must tell our government Dominica is not there alone it belong to all of us and if they are wrong in their management we must speak Truth is ETERNAL BUT LILIES CANT STAND FOREVER.

  4. Anonymous
    April 14, 2014

    The language in which the case is stated is that it is your sabbath, but all needs to know that from sunset friday to sunset saturday is the sabbath of the Lord thy God and in it thou shalt do no work. Exodus 20:8-11

  5. Anonymous
    April 14, 2014

    Now that you have won your case you need to sue for violation of your right to worship. Under Dominica’s constitution one has freedom of worship and when that right is violated it must be stamped out

  6. Rastafari
    April 14, 2014

    These same people are on face book posting crap on Saturdays…go figure. :mrgreen:

  7. Rastafari
    April 14, 2014

    LOL, that was insubordination to the max. He needs to find work where they don’t work on Saturdays. He knew before being hired that he was obligated to work on certain days. Employees don’t tell Employers how to run their businesses. You can’t work when I need you, go the heck home partner. He caused the loss of his funds, not the company.

  8. Looking in
    April 14, 2014

    If this is actual damages then the amount awarded is insufficient given the number of years that the plaintiff was unemployed. Also why did the court failed to award legal fees and punitive damages is that not a compensation consideration in these proceedings?

    The recent case against the ambassador was in excess of $100K and in a case of wrongful dismissal a judgment of less than $40K that is nonsense? That attorney did not do his/her client justice and appealing this is the prudent thing to do given the precedent set by the courts for higher awards in other cases.

  9. Just Blaze
    April 14, 2014

    Them seven day people always extra. If you dont want to work on staurdays what u doing in a security job? Get a job in a bank.

    • FORKIT
      April 14, 2014

      that was not the point.. moron

  10. km
    April 13, 2014

    First of all it’s not Mr. Ambo’s Sabbath it’s God’s. Mr Ambo is being obedient , standup for God and he will stand up for you(Genesis 2: 1~3). Now Mr.Beniot I am lost for words, but this much I will say you keep breaking God’s heart over and over again, “for those that know to do good and do it not is sin” you grew up knowing the Sabbath as a matter of fact that’s all you knew, you preached the word , but somewhere along the line you allowed the enemy to side track you . Sir, consider your actions, soon and very soon Christ will return “what will it profit a man to gain the whole world and loose his own soul. Take stock of you life bro before it’s to late.

  11. watchman
    April 13, 2014

    why do you think that he would not get more “aa” anthony astaphan is it because you will be getting about that in representing the Gov

  12. fORKIT
    April 13, 2014

    i think the money is not enough because he was put through hell by the daspa ceo, anyone who openly show on what side of the political fene they are will be victimized and have no chance of a promotion…
    the cause of this is the pm, he placed many little gods in positions even if they are not qualified for the position, once they can do his dirty personal work for him..

  13. Sueme
    April 13, 2014

    It does not matter. The nature of the world today is to do what you have to do to make you happy. Get all what you can get Ambo…

  14. Big-Banan
    April 12, 2014

    Great ! Maybe we should all refuse to work under religious grounds and shot Roseau down between Friday to Saturday sunset. When we Finnish things are bad because we cannot find work .

  15. In Christ
    April 12, 2014

    When I left D.A Kenrick was a Policeman, is a Port Security officer a cop? Anyway, it is easy to say we are a Christian and not stand when trials come our way. Kenrick proved he is serious about his love and faithfulness to our Lord by his actions. I am not a Seven Day Adventist for the record.

  16. April 12, 2014

    It is not usual that when one is wrongfully dismissed he/she is not only reimbursed for benefits including salary deprived as a result of the action but the dismissal is actually deemed null and void and therefore in addition to being compensated the individual is made to continue in the post. But no way in the report is that made clear; Is Ambo still in the employ of the Authority? If not why not?

  17. gd
    April 12, 2014

    I advised you to appeal that matter, the court ruling wasn’t substantive enough and i believe you should be rewarded more for that unlawful act cause by the CEO, good luck mi bro

  18. gd
    April 12, 2014

    I advised you to appeal that matter, the matter wasn’t substantive enough and i believe you should be rewarded more for that unlawful act cause by the CEO, good luck mi bro

  19. Ohhh Dominica!
    April 12, 2014

    Kenrick continue to fight God is on your side. I’m happy that you won but like you…..I don’t think this is enough for your pain and financial loss. I believe that this is disrespectful to say the least.

    I will keep you in my prayers…….

  20. DEL
    April 12, 2014

    Only in Dominica people refused to work on Saturday. If You don’t want to work on saturday don’t work with a company that does duties on this day. He refused to work he dismissed himself.
    He is lucky he got $33. 000 and still wants more. This is what toy call greed.

  21. PlutocratforthePoor
    April 12, 2014

    Sabbath, Ambo u appear to be a deep religious man, practice what u preach accept your victory and move on, let us be frank u are a big blue and Benior is a big red so u must expect some victimization, it is amazing how Dominicans fight for party colors and only five top people benefit from both parties.

  22. former worker
    April 12, 2014

    Before management make their decisions they must seek legal advice and ensure that due diligence is followed. It appears some thing is definitely wrong at the port and the government must investigate. The port authority has been losing to many of its cases and has to repay huge sum of money. Retired workers cannot get their money because management is saying the port doesn’t have money yet the port has to find money to pay in court. Staff is been increase as i speak but there is no money. To me that is not logic, something is wrong. Pm we need an inquiry of the management of the port.

    • PORT WORKER
      April 14, 2014

      YOU ARE WRONG, the CEO is judge jury and executioner… his mouth is his greatest weapon.

      that is why the port and police will continue to be sued

  23. POSITIVELY DOMINICAN
    April 12, 2014

    This is a blatant case of victimization and oppression of an employee! Employers must take note. There must be a process in place when there are concerns.

    An employee must be suspended from work with pay to allow a thorough investigation to be carried out. Once an investigation is conducted, and there is sufficient evidence for a disciplinary hearing, this would be the next step.

    If there is sufficient evidence at the disciplinary hearing to warrant dismissal, then the employee is dismissed based on conclusive evidence. The employee also has a right to appeal this decision.

    When employers are oppressing and victimizing employees they become ‘blind’. They do not think logically and they totally disregard employment law and job description because their aim is to abuse their power to oppress and victimized, especially if the employees do not share their views.

    Mr Ambo was wrongfully dismissed. He has been out of gainful employment since 2010, that is 3 years plus. Since Mr Ambo has been wrongfully dismissed, he is entitiled to 3 plus years of lost earning ( his yearly salary for the 3 years and other fringe benefits attached to this job, that he would have received over the past 3 years).

    Therefore, an appeal by Mr Kenrick Ambo is strongly justified. Justice must be served!!

  24. Dominican for sure
    April 12, 2014

    I hope he donate at least 50% of that to “Citizens for a better Dominica inc” for short “Team Dominica”. They need the money to pay the Consultant they have advising them of how to win the election and there huge travel bills.. :mrgreen:

    • Dominican for sure
      April 12, 2014

      their*

  25. greg
    April 12, 2014

    3 years $33000? Seem like he should have taken the security job pap met

  26. pedro
    April 12, 2014

    Where is the justice? What is 33 thousand dollars, after 4 years being unemployed because of victimization. Pay the man 300 thousand.

  27. Voodoo at d Port
    April 11, 2014

    I Concur. The money is definitely not enough. Your damages, loss of salary, stress, cant eat, can’t feed family, can’t pay medicals, can’t buy a top-up, other inconveniances. You are worth 10 times more than what the stupid ‘I Like That’ is getting re-checko.
    You should have lavay la main four times in the court room. Y, Y, Y.

  28. dominican
    April 11, 2014

    Hmmmm want appeal don’t be greedy,the appeal might jus give u less smh

  29. 18/3
    April 11, 2014

    Bro if I were in your shoe I would take that and run wi! you might go for more and get less or nothing, you don’t you think you can start a small business with that? just an advise.

  30. real madman
    April 11, 2014

    And where the 33 969 coming out to pay him???? Is it the government our our tax money again??? Hmn it looks like people just winning money in the place now man?? I like this . I really like that oh yea really I like that

    • SMH
      April 11, 2014

      Looooool I flattttt! I really like it too :lol: :-D

    • Foxx
      April 13, 2014

      The Port Authorityy is ran independent from other Government departs and Indland Revenue. This is why you pay departure taxes and port charges when receiving goods or shipping items. The CEO wants to run everything.

    • papa metyow
      April 14, 2014

      where de 27000000.00 come from and all those monies issy share out on de big man behalf

  31. Weknow
    April 11, 2014

    To Admin:
    Why didn’t you all mention the name of the lawyer who represented him?

    • hmmmm
      April 11, 2014

      I don’t agree. If the lawyer wanted to be named she would have given DNO an interview

  32. Dominiquen
    April 11, 2014

    Great!!! I always felt that he was wrongfully treated by the CEO of DASPA( Former Board Member)

    • dominica
      April 13, 2014

      that was political so you see what happens when people involve politics in non political issues. they felt they were punishing ambo because he turn to uw p having gone up for labor in the past. oh that wicked creature called politics.

    • patriot
      April 14, 2014

      Did you as a board member say or do anything to reflect your disapproval with the decision that was taken. If not then it is too late to lend support.

  33. Mak-c
    April 11, 2014

    Wrongfully dismissing someone means that you have terminated whatever benefits would have accrued over the years or within what can be seen as a reasonable period of employment.

    Further, you have made it difficult for that individual to take care of his financial obligations putting the person in a challenging financial situation. The Port’s decision would have also caused a level of embarrassment and vilification.

    I really don’t get it. What is 33+000? One would imagine that Mr. Ambo would have a much more compelling case than Ambassador A but that is justice for you in Dominica.

    These judges and persons in authority must realize that nothing lasts forever under the sun and the measure with which we treat people will one day be dispensed to us.

    Hold strong my brother. The good Lord has a peculiar way in dealing with injustice and he will avenge you. Only be strong and courageous my dear friend, the father does have the last say.

  34. aa
    April 11, 2014

    Brother you really think you will get more. Try your luck, but don’t be dissapointed if overturned.

  35. papa met
    April 11, 2014

    mr greedy man.. 33 thousand not enough padner u want to appeal? smfh

    • papa metyow
      April 14, 2014

      would accept that money after 4 years of not getting a salary?

  36. me
    April 11, 2014

    well skerrit have money to pay out papa

  37. Doc. Love
    April 11, 2014

    Congrates Mr. Ambo, please don’t forget to put a little money in the UWP fund raising kitty. We have always supported you.

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