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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2025
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Gov’ts ‘undisguised coercion’ of lockedout social worker By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE government subjected a 30-year veteran social worker to “undisguised economic coercion” by unlawfully withholding his salary and forcing him to work for free for a year prior to locking him out. Justice Loren Klein, in a September 15, 2025, verdict ruled that there was no legal or contractual authority to support the Government’s decision to withhold “all the pay” due to Michael Holmes after he refused to be redeployed from Cat Island to New Providence in March 2022. He rejected the Government’s arguments that General Orders, which govern the Bahamian civil service, as well as the Public Service Commission Regulations and Bahamas Government Human Resources Policies Handbook, gave it sufficient legal justification to act as it did because these only dealt with punishments for officials “absent without leave” and who fail to appear for work.
In contrast, Justice Klein noted that Mr Holmes had continued to report to work for free at his Cat Island offices until locked out on the Government’s orders. Nor was the veteran social worker facing disciplinary proceedings, and he had not been dismissed from his post. And, ordering that Mr Holmes’ “withheld salary” be restored for the 18-month period between April 1, 2022, to October 16, 2023, the judge also mandated that the “status quo” between the two sides be maintained as he rejected the Government’s assertion that payment would require the Public Treasury to unlawfully “deplete” its resources. Dismissing all arguments put forward on the Government’s behalf by the Attorney General’s Office, he asserted that it was not well-placed to complain given how Mr Holmes had been treated and subjected to “undisguised economic coercion” to redeploy back to New Providence by withholding his salary. Justice Klein, in a verdict that will likely raise fresh concerns about how
BUILDING CODE ‘JUST PAPER’ WITHOUT TRUE ENFORCEMENT By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamian Contractors Association’s (BCA) president is arguing “there’s no point” in improving the Building Code without proper enforcement, adding: “We’re good at creating laws we don’t manage.” Leonard Sands, in a recent interview with Tribune Business prior to Clay Sweeting, minister of works and Family Island affairs, tabling coastal infrastructure design and ‘energy efficiency in construction’ guidance notes in the House of Assembly, asserted that while “there’s a regulation for everything” these are “just a bunch of paper” if
not properly executed and enforced. Voicing his belief that much of the multi-billion dollar damage inflicted by Hurricane Dorian was caused because persons “never followed the Code”, he added: “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. There’s no point in upgrading the Building Code. There just needs to be strict adherence to it. “If you upgrade the Building Code and still don’t regulate building in the country, what’s the point? We’re good at creating legislation that we don’t manage. Upgrading the Building Code will not necessarily change anything UPDATE - SEE PAGE TEN
LEGAL REFORMS ‘SHIFT POWER DYNAMIC’ OVER DATA CONTROL By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN technology providers said legal reforms debated by the House of Assembly “shift the power dynamics for control of data” as they backed the move to “move with the times”. Keith Roye II, Plato Alpha Design’s chief operating officer, told Tribune Business that three changes “stick out to me” with the
proposed overhaul of the 22 year-old Data Protection Act including the “expanded rights” provided to Bahamian citizens over how companies manage, handle and secure their personal data. Noting that the Data Protection Bill means “compliance is no longer optional; it’s mandatory” for businesses such as his own, which manage and process data on behalf of BILL - SEE PAGE TEN
the Government treats its employees, ruled that the dispute with Mr Holmes erupted after the latter “challenged his transfer from Cat Island to New Providence, which he asserts was done without lawful justification, proper notice or consultation” with the Bahamas Public Services Union (BPSU) that represented him. “The claimant is a social worker, who has been employed with the Department of Social Services for some 30 years since August 2, 1993,” Justice Klein wrote. “At the point that this matter arose, his annual salary was $29,450. “During May of 2019, he requested a transfer to Cat Island, apparently with the intention of retiring there. By letter dated January 9, 2020, he was notified that his request for transfer had been approved with effect from January 13, 2020. He thereupon relocated to Cat Island.” However, barely two years later, Mr Holmes received a letter from social services’ assistant director advising him he was being redeployed back to REDEPLOY - SEE PAGE 11
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‘GLAD IT’S OFF OUR PLATE’: CABLE CONCEDES OVER $3.358M TAX DISPUTE By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
“compliance”. Mr Butler, telling this newspaper that “nobody wants to fight with the tax collectors”, reiterated that Cable Bahamas and its Aliv mobile subsidiary are “glad to have that behind us” and are committed to being “a good corporate partner” that “pays its fair share of taxes” to finance critical public and national infrastructure. The dispute with the Department of Inland Revenue centred largely on whether VAT was incurred on international inbound roaming and call charges plus insurance proceeds. Cable Bahamas’ share of the payment is $1.039m, comprised of $718,830 that was accrued during the disputed four-and-a-half year period through to end-June 2022, and a further $320,206 incurred between then and settlement. The majority, amounting to almost $2.5m, was incurred by Aliv. Besides some $1.594m that the Department of Inland Revenue alleged was unpaid and owing for the period between January 1, 2018, and March 31, 2022, a
CABLE Bahamas top executive yesterday asserted “we’re glad to get that off our plate” after the company conceded its tax fight and paid the total $3.538m sought by the Government. Franklyn Butler, the BISX-listed communications provider’s president and chief executive, told Tribune Business it “made no sense” to continue the battle with the Department of Inland Revenue after the company’s attorneys advised “it is more likely than not” the Bahamian tax authority would win its claim for unpaid VAT and Business Licence fees. Cable Bahamas’ “strategic decision to settle the dispute and avoid further financial exposure” is disclosed in its just-released financial statements for the year to end-June 2025. Besides giving up its full $2.313m deposit, a sum equal to the disputed taxes and which it had to lodge to pursue its Tax Appeals Commission challenge, it has paid a further $1.225m to ensure post-settlement SETTLEMENT - SEE PAGE NINE