By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Supreme Court has struck out Captain Joseph Moxey’s lawsuit against Bahamasair over the airline’s decision to retire him at 60, but allowed co-claimant Captain Fran Rahming to press ahead with his own challenge.

Acting Registrar Renaldo Toote ruled that Mr Moxey’s case was barred by res judicata, the legal principle that forbids re-litigating an issue already decided, because courts had previously ruled that Bahamasair’s retirement age for pilots remains 60, not 65.

Mr Moxey, who lost an earlier lawsuit and subsequent appeal, filed the new claim with Mr Rahming last year, arguing both men were unfairly forced to retire despite aviation regulations permitting pilots to fly until 65. They based the claim on a 2023 industrial agreement, saying it differed from the one used in the previous case.

But Mr Toote said the new action was “a repackaged” attempt to reopen the same failed argument under a different guise.

“For him to pursue the current claim would represent a collateral attack on that decision,” the Registrar wrote, calling the filing “cosmetic differences” meant to skirt a final judgment.

He struck out Mr Moxey’s case in full, set aside a default judgment that had briefly gone in his favour, and ordered him to pay $5,000 in costs to the airline.

However, Mr Toote said it would be unjust to bar Mr Rahming’s case, as he was not a party to the previous litigation.

“Every litigant is entitled to their day in court,” he said, allowing Mr Rahming’s challenge to proceed while noting he faces “significant evidentiary and legal challenges” given that earlier rulings confirmed Bahamasair’s right to retire pilots at 60.

Bahamasair’s attorney, Lakeisha Strachan-Hanna, argued that both the 2018 and 2023 industrial agreements were unregistered and therefore had no legal effect under the Industrial Relations Act.

Mr Moxey’s lawyer, E. Raphael Moxey, contended that the new agreement and Mr Rahming’s inclusion made this a distinct claim, but Mr Toote disagreed, saying the “core issue” remained the same — whether Bahamasair could compel its pilots to retire at 60 despite regulatory changes.