Gary Griffith awarded TT$250,000 in lawsuit over police commissioner merit list

Former police commissioner Gary Griffith has been awarded TT$250,000 in damages after winning his lawsuit against former Police Service Commission chairman Bliss Seepersad over her withdrawal of a merit list for the commissioner's appointment in 2021, Caribbean National Weekly reported. In a judgment delivered Wednesday, High Court Judge Kevin Ramcharan found Seepersad liable for misfeasance in public office. The ruling concerned her handling of the list after it had been submitted to then-President Paula-Mae Weekes on August 11, 2021. Griffith's three-year contract ended in August 2021, and he sought another term. He ranked first in the commission's selection process, ahead of Jason Francis, Andre Norton and Erla Harewood-Christopher. The list was withdrawn shortly after being delivered to the President. According to the report, the dispute partly concerned information Seepersad received from then-prime minister Keith Rowley, who also chaired the National Security Council, about a report containing allegations potentially relevant to the selection process. Justice Ramcharan accepted that the information justified initially retrieving the list. However, he found that withdrawing it after submission to the President required approval from the other commission members. Seepersad acted unilaterally without obtaining that approval, the court found. The damages award includes aggravated damages for reputational harm. It also carries interest at 2.5 per cent annually from the filing of the claim, along with legal costs. The court rejected Griffith's separate claim for compensation for losing the opportunity to serve another three-year term. The judge found there was no guarantee Parliament would have approved his appointment and that Griffith had not established financial loss. The judgment therefore awarded compensation for reputational injury while declining to compensate him for the appointment opportunity. Griffith filed the lawsuit in 2024.