By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard has called on the government to disclose the details of a lawsuit settlement concluded with two senior police officers, including the rationale behind the move.

Senior police officers Clayton Fernander - the new police Commissioner - and Leamond Deleveaux filed a lawsuit against the government in 2019 after they were asked to take their accumulated vacation leave that year.

According to their attorney, Bjorn Ferguson, the case was progressing towards a trial date.

However, after the Davis administration took office last year, Mr Ferguson said that he invited officials to look at the case because he claimed nothing was filed by the former government in response to their court documents.

“They prepared an opinion and invited us to do the same,” the attorney said. “We then came to the table and commenced settlement discussions. We had it all finalised on the June 12 and the matter came to an end.”

Mr Ferguson did not disclose the amount settled by both parties.

However, Mr Pintard said the question of how much was awarded is something that needs to be answered.

 He also urged the government to give the Bahamian people an explanation on why the matter was settled and the motive behind it.

 “The PLP administration is developing a clear pattern of settling matters that were either in court or headed to court without providing a clear explanation on why these matters were being settled,” the FNM leader told The Tribune “In at least two cases I could think of, they were being settled without the government disclosing the amount of monies for which these matter were being settled.”

 “I last raised this matter with respect to the financial secretary who to the best of my knowledge suffered no loss of income during the period he had been relieved of his duties until the government was changed in September of last year.”

 He continued: “In this case, these officers I was advised, were receiving their salaries and they have suffered no financial loss and their attorney may argue then that they may have suffered an embarrassment and they may have suffered an inconvenience, etc, and if that is the case then ordinarily, these kinds of settlements are done for nominal amounts in this jurisdiction like ours. So, we need to see the quantum.

 “Are they being compensated for the inconvenience, the embarrassment and any misfortune in that category? (Because) that would be substantially different if they were receiving now hundreds of thousands or millions which seems to be the pattern of this administration without explanation, then that raises additional questions about the rationale and the motives of this administration and, bear in mind, that one of the officers is the lead of a very high profile matter as well.”

 The FNM leader said by not disclosing the details of the settlement, the government has “unwittingly” opened up the high-ranking officials to scrutiny from some who may now speculate whether they will be able to perform their jobs impartially and without bias.

 “These are two extremely sensitive jobs and police officers are expected to operate free of political interference and in the absence of the government, giving a proper rationale for the financial settlement which they are entering into as well as the amount,” Mr Pintard added.

 “What the government has unwittingly done is open these officers up to extreme scrutiny by members of the public who will naturally begin to speculate whether or not they are able to carry out their work with impartiality.

 “And I will go further as to say that the officers should, in the absence of a government explanation and details relative to what that settlement is, should refuse to take that position so they are not put in this untenable position that the government is putting them in.

 “Not merely the optics of it but the very nature of their job demands that these matters be handled with a high degree of transparency which the government is refusing to provide.”

 The senior officers were among eight high ranking officials who were directed to take vacation leave in 2019.

 Although the Minnis administration justified the vacation policy by citing fiscal measures, the officers have come to believe that the administration simply wanted to sideline them.

 When their vacation leave ended, they were sent on special assignments at various ministries for a year.

 Outgoing Commissioner Paul Rolle recently said he never supported them being placed on leave.

 He also noted that he felt “betrayed” and “deceived” by the Minnis administration in its handling of three high-ranking police officers.

 Asked to respond to Mr Rolle’s comments yesterday, Mr Pintard said: “His comments being made at this time against the backdrop of what we now know the government has done in terms of the settlement further makes it even more urgent for the government to come forward with an explanation because again, it comes across to some members of the public as being timed to coincide with all that has been happening behind the scenes and that may or may not be the case. However, the Prime Minister entering this discussion and bringing clarity might very well be able to set the record straight, but right now it is quite muddy.”

 Mr Fernander and Mr Deleveaux are expected to be sworn in today as police commissioner and deputy police commissioner respectively.