Former director of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) Nigel Clement is set to receive a million dollar compensation package from the State for being wrongfully dismissed after serving in the post for nine months.
Clement, whose appointment was revoked in November 2010 with over two years left on his contract, was given a default judgment after the State failed to enter a defence in his lawsuit for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract.
As part of the judgment, justice Ronnie Boodoosingh ordered that Clement’s compensation be assessed by a High Court master.
Once ratified Clement will become the second former executive member of a national security agency who was dismissed following the 2010 general election, to receive a substantial payout from the State.
The Office of the Attorney General has also been ordered to pay Clement’s legal costs.
In 2012, former Special Anti-Crime Unit of T&T (Sautt) director Brig Peter Joseph received over $1 million in settlement after he filed a similar lawsuit.
According to the evidence in his case, Clement alleged that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar advised the President to revoke his appointment without informing him of the reasons for the decision and giving him an opportunity to defend his performance.
He claimed he learned of the decision almost two weeks earlier when police raided the organisation’s offices as part of a Government induced investigation into illegal wiretapping of the telephones of politicians, media personnel and other senior officials during the previous regime.
Clement also alleged that he arranged a meeting with former national security minister John Sandy and several other senior government ministers, including former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and former justice minister Herbert Volney to discuss the raid and his dismissal.
He claimed that during the meeting none of the officials raised any allegations of misconduct or poor performance which could justify his dismissal.
Clement also referred to the fact that the day before he was officially dismissed, government disclosed a series of public documents in which it said Clement was fired and two Canadian technology security experts were hired to sweep the organisation for evidence of tapping of phones, text messages, emails, and also to develop a secure communications network for use by senior government officials.
The same experts were also mandated to review and reorganise State security organisations as part of Government’s restructuring exercises of all national security agencies.
In addition, Clement attached a speech by Persad-Bissessar in Parliament in which it spoke of the President’s revocation of Clement’s appointment on the advice of the Cabinet and alleged that he was responsible for the merging of the SSA and the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA), which had engaged in unlawful wiretapping of politicians, media workers, trade unionists, among others, during the tenure of the former administration.
Clement alleged the Government’s handling of the situation was in breach of the rules of fairness and natural justice.
As part of his claim for compensation Clement claimed that Persad-Bissessar’s allegations, coupled with the negative public perception on phone tapping, made it difficult for him to find employment after being dismissed.
He was represented by Reginald Armour, SC, leading Vanessa Gopaul, instructed by Tamilee Budhu while the Office of the Attorney General was represented by Russell Martineau, SC, Gerald Ramdeen and Kendra Mark.
About Clement
Clement started his career in the Coast Guard in 1985 and served as officer cadet to the Lieutenant Commander until he resigned to take up a post in the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA) in 2002.
After serving as deputy director of operations and intelligence between 2002 and 2007, he was given the post of acting director of security intelligence.
In 2010, Clement was promoted to the post of director of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA). After he was fired Clement was replaced briefly by Reshmi Ramnarine.
Ramnarine was forced to abdicate the post after it was revealed she was a junior employee at the organisation and had falsified her resume.