Terminated Employee Wins Lawsuit Against The B.t.b.

Tracy Taegar-Panton

This Friday, a convention takes place in the Albert Division for the endorsement of Tourism C.E.O., Tracy Taegar-Panton as standard bearer for the U.D.P. Panton is to replace Minister of State Herman Longsworth who is not seeking re-election and is stepping aside for Taegar-Panton. But things are heating up on the eve of the endorsement convention.  The P.U.P., today, circulated a release with supporting documents of a case against Taegar Panton brought by former Belize Tourism Board employee, Jonelle Hemmans back in 2013. Hemmans took the B.T.B. to court and won damages for her wrongful termination both as project coordinator and then as standard development officer with the B.T.B.  Hemmans, was the project coordinator for a European Union funded project for which contrary to the guidelines, Taegar Panton wanted her mother’s house on Regent Street to be rented for the project. According to a statement from Hemmans, it constituted a conflict of interest and that at a meeting of the Board, at which the matter was discussed, Taegar Panton shouted at her saying that she was making her “freaking frustrated.”

Jonelle Hemmans

Hemmans won the case and the B.T.B. ended up paying her one hundred and ten thousand six hundred and twenty-five dollars with fourteen plus dollars in interest every day as well as lawyer’s fees. Hemmans had claimed one hundred and eight thousand dollars.  The point being made is that Hemmans was fired because she considered it a conflict to secure rental of Taegar Panton’s family home.  Late this evening, Taegar-Panton rejected any suggestion that at any time she acted from any conflict of interest position while serving at the B.T.B. and that when the incident is said to have occurred, she was C.E.O. of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation. The court award to Hemmans, however, is not in dispute. Taegar Panton’s says, “This distortion by the P.U.P. is an amateur attempt to distract the voters of the Albert Division from the momentum that has been generated since I decided to offer myself as the U.D.P. candidate for this constituency.”