The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) on Monday made a decision to allow former Town Clerk, Royston King to receive his pension, gratuity and other benefits owed to him.
At the statutory meeting, Mayor Ubraj Narine proposed that since the Local Government Commission (LGC) had approved benefits for former Town Clerk, Carol Sooba, the same must be extended to Royston King.
King was appointed as Town Clerk for the municipality in 2015 and held the position until January 2019, when he was served with a dismissal letter from the Local Government Commission. This was just months after a Commission of Inquiry into City Hall’s operations found numerous discrepancies which raised eyebrows.
After the decision was approved, the Mayor instructed that both Sooba and King be handed their benefits at the same time.
“Since the Local Government Commission and Council had approved the benefit of gratuity, pension, etc. to the former Town Clerk Carol Sooba, I propose to this House that the same courtesy for Mr Royston King. Both of it must go hand in hand at the same time…It must go hand in hand. It must be approved at the same time and both parties must receive it at the same time,” Narine stated.
King had challenged a decision by the Local Government Commission (LGC) to fire him for gross misconduct after a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) had recommended criminal charges against him. His dismissal was reversed by the High Court in September 2019, paving the way for a reinstation.
The 2018 CoI was conducted by Retired Justice Cecil Kennard, who found King guilty of gross misconduct, abuse of office, and misappropriation of funds. He had also stated that King performed the duties of treasurer and other officers of the Council, which were not his designated duties.
King had asked in his application for the Commission to reinstate him to his post immediately or to pay him all his superannuation benefits. This included pension, gratuity, payment in lieu of annual leave until he attained the statutory age of retirement on January 20, 2020. King was awarded $200,000 in court costs.
He also claimed for cost and aggregative damages for his benefits while on administrative leave, along with compensation for public embarrassment. King called for interest calculated at four per cent per annum from the date of filing of the application, until the judgement and at six per cent per annum from the date of judgment up until full payment, excluding court cost, is made.
In January 2020, a bid by the LGC to overturn the High Court ruling was struck out, due to non-compliance with the new Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) of 2016.
