A secondary school teacher, Ravindra Ramnanan, has secured a significant victory against the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) in his battle for promotion. In a recent ruling, Justice Betsy Ann Lambert-Peterson declared that Ramnanan was entitled to fair treatment by the public authority. This decision came after it was found that the TSC had breached Ramnanan’s rights to equality of treatment and protection.
The judge ordered compensation of $80,000 for Ramnanan, along with interest, as a result of the breach of his constitutional rights. Lambert-Peterson also overturned the TSC’s decision to refuse to promote Ramnanan to the position of head of department (secondary) science at the Marabella North Secondary School (MNSS) and instead ordered his promotion to the same position at the Pleasantville Secondary School, effective April 19, 2022.
Ramnanan had applied for a promotion and was placed on an order of merit list for the position. However, the TSC failed to publish the list, leaving Ramnanan in the dark about his position. When he discovered he was ranked 18th, he sought placement at other schools as his top choices were unavailable. Despite his efforts, he was placed at his ninth choice school in April 2022.
Further investigations by Ramnanan revealed that vacancies at his top choices had not been filled, yet the TSC refused to place him at one of those schools. The judge criticized the TSC for not allowing Ramnanan to make an informed choice based on his rank on the order of merit list.
Additionally, the judge highlighted anomalies in the promotion of other teachers on the merit list, leading to promotions being reversed. She emphasized the need for the TSC to adopt a methodology that validates the rank of individuals on the order of merit list.
The TSC’s refusal to vary its decision on Ramnanan’s placement, despite evidence presented, was a key factor in the judge’s decision to order compensation from the Attorney General. Ramnanan was represented by attorneys Navindra Ramnanan and Ricky Pandohee, while the TSC and AG were represented by Stefan Jaikaran, Rachael Jacob, Melissa Papoonsingh, and Krystyn Lewis.
