The Industrial Court has dismissed a claim by a former Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Bank (ECAB) employee who argued he was unfairly let go after 27 years of service, ruling that the bank had sufficient grounds to terminate him for gross misconduct.

The court found that the dismissal of Edzel Joseph, who worked as an Attendant in the bank’s Facilities Department, was justified and that he was not entitled to compensation or the employer’s contribution to his retirement savings plan.

Joseph had been employed with the Bank of Antigua since 1991, before its amalgamation in 2010, earning a monthly salary of around $3,400 at the time of his dismissal on September 7, 2018.

The bank said he was dismissed for gross misconduct related to the unauthorised possession of a CCTV camera sign that had gone missing from its premises.

Joseph maintained he had retrieved the sign after the bank discarded it during an equipment dump at the Cooks Dump site.

According to the court judgement, on August 16, 2018, a colleague who accompanied Joseph to his home noticed a CCTV camera sign on his fence that resembled one reported missing by Joseph’s supervisor.

Joseph was subsequently suspended with pay on August 27, 2018, pending an investigation conducted by the bank’s Internal Auditor.

The auditor, during his investigation, visited Joseph’s home, photographed the sign and interviewed Joseph.
Joseph provided a written explanation stating the sign had been broken in two when he found it and that he had retained only the top piece.

However, when the investigator Peter Quinn returned to the property on September 3, the sign, which had been in an unbroken state when first photographed on August 28, was found damaged.

The court noted the photographic evidence and found it suggested a deliberate attempt to alter the sign to support Joseph’s account.

On the question of procedural fairness, Joseph argued he was not given a formal disciplinary hearing before his dismissal, but the court found that the chance of dismissal was 100 percent likely even if a hearing had been held, and therefore any compensatory award would have been reduced to zero.

The court also considered the banking context in its assessment, noting that unauthorised possession of company property in that industry carries particular weight and can constitute a fundamental breach of the employment contract.

It further found that Joseph had been previously placed on notice in May 2018, after he installed a personal camera on the ECAB premises and was warned that further misconduct could result in dismissal.

The court acknowledged the significance of losing 27 years of service and retirement benefits but concluded the dismissal did not meet the threshold of being harsh, oppressive or otherwise unfair.