By Barbara Gayle, Staff ReporterA TEACHER who failed in his bid in the Court of Appeal to be reinstated in his job as a lecturer at the Montego Bay Community College is seeking leave to take the matter to the United Kingdom Privy Council.
Easton Wilberforce Grant, the teacher will be appealing against a Court of Appeal ruling last month which dismissed his appeal.
In dismissing Grant's appeal last month, the Court of Appeal described his conduct as being of a nature that would have sullied the good name of the institution.
The application for leave to go to the Judicial Review Court is set for hearing in the Court of Appeal next week.
Grant who holds an M.Sc. degree in economics was fired from his job at the Montego Bay Community College in June 1999.
Disciplinary proceedings were instituted against him by the board of management following a
written complaint by the principal, Dr. Lorna Nembhard.
The personnel committee of the Board had a hearing and found that Grant was guilty of unprofessional conduct, neglect of duty and
insubordination. The committee recommended that his services as a lecturer be terminated in the best interests of the institution.
OPEN REFUSAL
The minutes of the hearing of May 20, 1999 revealed that when Grant was invited to present his side, he openly refused to respond to the allegations and the charges laid against him. He went on to verbally accuse certain members of the board of being incompetent to carry out the procedures of the meeting. He also accused them
of being biased and lacking in
integrity and then stormed out of the meeting.
Grant appealed to the Teachers' Appeal Tribunal and lost. He then took the matter to the Judicial Review Court in October 2001 seeking to have the tribunal's ruling quashed. Grant contended that the tribunal erred in law when it did not reinstate him.
Mr. Justice Howard Cooke upheld the tribunal's ruling and Grant appealed against the judge's ruling.
Grant who represented himself in the Court of Appeal, argued that the judge failed to exercise his discretion when he refused to quash the tribunal's ruling. He claimed that the judge acted improperly and was biased .
Attorneys-at-law Katherine Francis and Michael Deans from the attorney-general's department who represented the Teachers' Tribunal and the attorney-general, submitted that the judge correctly exercised his discretion in refusing the relief sought.
A FAIR HEARING
The Court of Appeal comprising Mr. Justice Donald Bingham (now retired) Mr. Justice Algernon Smith and Mr. Justice Karl Harrison found that Grant was afforded an opportunity to present his case but openly refused to respond to them at the meeting of the personnel committee. The court found that Mr. Justice Howard Cooke dealt with the issues properly and ensured that Grant was afforded a fair hearing. The court said there was no merit in the complaint that the judge was "incompetent and biased".
The court said "the role of the teacher must always be carried out with decorum and a sense of responsibility to cause those who are placed in their care
to have confidence in the level of guidance and leadership
displayed as to regard them as worthy of emulation."
"In this case, given the facts
leading up to his dismissal, the
conduct displayed by the appellant, if left unchecked was of such a nature as would have sullied the
reputation and good name of
the institution that he had been
privileged to be a part of," the court said.
