Cara Shillingford Wins COVID-19 Vaccine Lawsuit Case against Government of St. Vincent SVG

Attorney Cara Shillingford-Marsh has won a COVID-19 vaccine case against the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). Shillingford-Marsh represented six government workers who were fired by the PM Ralph Gonzalves administration for not receiving vaccination during the coronavirus pandemic.

Handing down her judgement, Justice Esco Henry of the SVG High Court ruled that the government erred in firing the plaintiffs. The judge stated that vaccination was voluntary and that the government was wrong to have fired the plaintiffs, although more than 300 other public sector workers were actually sacked by the government.

Senior Counsel Anthony Astaphan and several top lawyers represented the SVG government. The government lawyers argued that the affected workers resigned from their jobs because of their refusal to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and that a few others were justifiably fired under appropriate legislations.

Justice Henry maintained that sacking the workers was unlawful and void because it violated the constitution. She ruled that none of the sacked workers would be deemed to have left their jobs and that they remain entitled to all of their salaries, due benefits, and pensions. She declared that the government must also pay the plaintiffs for any damages that resulted from the unlawful termination, including 6% interest per annum.

Lawyers for the government vowed to appeal the High Court judgement by taking their case to the Court of Appeal. PM Gonzalves said it is appropriate for the matter to proceed to the Court of Appeal because he believed the government did the right thing in sacking the workers. He said he is going by the advice of the government defence team to appeal the judgement.

“We have given instructions to them to appeal,” Gonzalves stated. “In fact, they orally indicated that they would appeal. The government is satisfied that our actions were lawful; we were so advised, and this matter is too important for us to just rely on the judgment of one judge in the first instance… let’s hear what the Court of Appeal thinks. There is a likelihood this decision will be overturned at the Court of Appeal.”

The six plaintiffs are:

• Shanile Howe – primary school teacher
• Novita Roberts – primary school teacher
• Cavet Thomas – a senior customs officer
• Alfonzo Lyttle – an assistant supervisor with the Customs and Excise Department
• Brenton Smith – a station sergeant of police
• Sylvorne Olliver – a corporal of police

The lawsuit was funded by the SVG Teachers Union, the Public Service Union (PSU), the Police Welfare Association (PWA), and labour rights advocates.

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