Majority of suspended civil servants face criminal charges

| 22/06/2016 | 37 Comments

Government Administration Building GAB(CNS): The majority of the 31 public servants who are on required leave and suspended from their jobs on full pay are facing criminal proceedings in the courts, the deputy governor revealed Wednesday as Finance Committee began scrutinising spending on the civil service. Franz Manderson told legislators that the majority, though not all, suspended government employees were facing court cases and as a result it was difficult for them to address the timelines that people are not working and still receiving full pay. Although no names were mentioned, Manderson said that in at least one instance a worker had been suspended for four years awaiting a court case.

He said there were others that had also been waiting for a long time but the service was looking into ways to resolve the situation of public sector workers on leave for very long periods on full pay without waiting for court decisions.

Manderson said that where it was clear there was a breach of civil service protocols, it could be possible to deal with their circumstances before cases are resolved in the court.  He said he was looking to see if civil service regulations could accommodate disciplinary hearings and possible removal from the service.

However, he said there may be circumstances where government employees could also move to a different department or role depending on the circumstances of the suspension. However, where civil servants are convicted of a crime they are more than likely dismissed but where they are exonerated by the courts, the service can take them back, he said.

Ezzard Miller (North Side) asked why they remain on full pay and not, as was the case in the past, on half-pay, which would provide an incentive for the public sector worker to press for a resolution. The deputy governor noted that the policy changed more than a decade ago because there had been cases where civil servants lost their homes and were suffering significant hardship on half salaries only to be exonerated later.

The civil servants currently on required leave cover a wide range of workers, from very senior officers on significant salaries and benefits to those in lower ranks, and covers a number of departments, though they are dominated by the uniform branches.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer John Bodden, who is charged in a hit and run case and was suspended last summer, and immigration officer Nicholas Tibbetts, who is charged with causing the death of a cyclist in another hit and run, are among those facing court cases.

But there are several other civil servants in senior posts that are not, including Chief Immigration Officer Linda Evans, who has never been arrested or charged with any crimes but has been on required leave for over 18 months. She was suspended in December 2014 for alleged and undisclosed infractions relating to immigration issues.

Not all civil servants charged with crimes are on required leave. At least two police officers facing assault charges over the use of a Taser on a suspect are still on duty.

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Category: Government Finance, Local News, Politics

Comments (37)

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  1. Do something says:

    I sincerly hope that IF these persons who are accused of wrongdoing are found to be inoccent then there WILL be consequences for those who began the process and those who facilitated them.

    For far to long have those person, who for whatever reason, have destroyed good peoples lives and gotten away with it.

    For far too long the public have had to pay for these mistakes and the perptraitors have gotten away scotch free and continued in the same place, making the same bad desicions.

    Their performance and decision making processes are severly lacking and wrong.

    I call out ALL MLA’s that as a matter of your personal honour, you are required to ensure that these situations are sorted out immediately. And if the persons were wrongfully accused then it is a matter of your integrity to ensure those responsible are never allowed to do this kind of action again.

    And if it is found that you did nothing then i hope you will also be held responsible as well.

    Stand up. Get off your fat blubbery arses and doing your job.

  2. ExPatriote says:

    Complete and utter incompetence on the part of the investigator(s) OR politricks at play….yes poli-Tricks. The justice system can be and has been swift so there’s no excuse for the long delays in certain cases.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I wonder why two DEH employees in Little Cayman, having destroyed Govt. property, (on different occasions), are still on paid leave. The whole Island knows alcohol was involved, so it sounds like some kind of cover-up. Distroying the garbage truck, a shed in the dump, a small flatbed truck, not enough evidence??? Just keep paying them until the cows come home….(I thought Police would have seen the evidence…like the rest of us?)

  4. Sonia says:

    DG we are behind you all the way. The negative moments means you ae doing your job.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Head of the CS was a political move. Things will never get better until we get better people in charge.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Nothing will change as the Civil Service is led by a Civil Servant, and politicians will never want to lose their ten thousand votes (Including spouses and of age children).

    • Anonymous says:

      4:10. Nothing will change in private sector companies that are headed by private sector workers. Oh my Godness do you see how stupid your comment is.

      Only China and Cuba have a civil service that are not headed by a civil servant.

      Think for godsake.

  7. Uncivil Servant says:

    Sign me up dammit!

  8. Anonymous says:

    How is it that 2 civil servents have had DUI accidents where they hit a person 2-4 years ago and have not gon through the courts yet, but a non civil servent has also been involved in a similar accident last year and yet he has been prosecuted awaiting sentencing? Where is the justice for the other victims? Is it that the investigations can’t find enough evidence by now, or is it because they are Caymanian working in civil service? Do CIG really think people don’t notice a difference in handling these cases? WE NOTICE!

    • Anonymous says:

      i personally know of someone who is not employed by the Civil Service who was charged with GBH three years ago and has yet to be convicted, while similar cases as recent as a few months ago have already concluded. I don’t think it has anything to do with where a person works.

  9. Anonymous says:

    At the very least once terminated these people should have to pay back all the money received in full. Nothing like being on a paid extended vacation. Ridiculous.

    • Morgan Jackson says:

      I whole-heartedly agree! If they are guilty of a misdeed they should have to return ALL undeserved pay.

  10. Anonymous says:

    If the DG is a trained lawyer, then I am definitely a rocker scientist! The utter nonsense that comes out of his mouth makes my kindergarten child look brilliant. Now, he’s a “nice guy” and of course that would be the argument that holds up. He is Caymanian and he is a nice guy. What a pity that can’t be challenged in a court of law.

    • Anonymous says:

      7:34. What is the nonsense please tell us. Guess you were one of those posters who said there was no accountability in the civil only to be told that 15 civil servants were recently fired and now it looks like another 31 will be gone soon. Get facts before engage fingers.

    • Nee says:

      I would love to know what a “rocker scientist” is; sounds fun!

  11. Cayman Employer says:

    In the private sector an employee would be dismissed on suspicion of having committed the offence, they would not remain employed on full pay pending trial. Most employment contracts will give the employee a right to terminate if the employee is CHARGED with a criminal offence. Time for Government to follow private sector practices

    • Morgan Jackson says:

      To do otherwise is nothing but stupidity….. or nepotism…. or ????

    • Debbie says:

      Cayman employer ….you sound drunk. Firing people on mere suspicion is illegal. Would you want someone to do that to you.

      I can’t believe these bizarre posts. First we want accounability in the civil service. We hire a DG who has been enforcing laws all his life and what we see. Persons being fired and persons being put before the courts.

      And now we complain. The DG is doing an amazing job. Leave him alone.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Some cases are no more then old boys club hush money.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Caymankind

  14. Anonymous says:

    incompetence at every level …….
    will be surprised if any are found guilty…..

  15. Anonymous says:

    This is at least part of the reason there’s not enough money for pivotal things like Education, Mental Health, Veterans, Senior Citizens,
    This practice by government is old. Why are we just now “looking into how we can address” this absurdity? It’s too easy to spend other people’s money, that’s why. Shamefulness.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Mr Miller, the change from half pay to full pay was made several years ago because of very strong political pressure in a Cayman Brac case where the politicians did not want the accused to have to endure half pay. I am not saying that case (an “important Bracker”) was right or wrong but Mr Manderson’s explanation of the general situation was “spin”.

    But, Mr Miller, in the face of our courts system’s dreadfully slow resolution of everything, your comment that the civil servant being on half pay would give them incentive to resolve things doesn’t make sense. They have no power to make the courts work any quicker than the glacial speed they work at now. These cases of civil servants on very very long suspension go back ten years and more, well before the present legislation came into force.

    As for Manderson’s “breach of civil service protocols”/ “looking to see if” comment and the paragraph that follows, one has to wonder if he has really read (as opposed to asking an underling to deal with it) and understood the Personnel Regulations which are very clear on these matters.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Well surely the answer is to get the cases into Court. Would there have been such a delay if it was an employee in the private sector, charged with a criminal offense within their workplace.

  18. Anonymous says:

    And every single one of them has an instant get out if they are eventually charged.

    Under ECHR Article 6 you can’t simply drag things out looking for a non-judicial solution and I suspect that Mr Manderson, as a trained lawyer, knows this. There is a limit to how long you can sit on an investigation before bringing charges and almost all of these cases appear to have gone way beyond what Article 6 would treat as ‘a reasonable time’ so they will all walk away from it.

    This statement is complete BS. I suspect the reality is that, for obvious reasons, these so-called investigations have been dragged out to make sure they never go to court.

    • Anonymous says:

      4 :34. Can you read ? These people are already charged and before the court. Guess you work in the private sector!!

  19. Anonymous says:

    It will beinteresting to read the comments from Caymanians in the event the two local hit and run accused are found guilty and compare them to the vitriol an expatriate received in a recent case. My guess based on past experience is that there won’t be any.

  20. Anonymous says:

    These cases should be expedited through the courts to ensure that public money is not being spent frivolously!

  21. To Sad says:

    Hello. Whilst i think some of these persons were and are guilty of severe infractions I understand that there are sone that only guily of doing there jobs.

    As has been found in many other countries around the world justice is usually swift for those who truly breached it, but for those who are inoccent it has been found to be a long, expensive and complicated process, usually due to the personal agenda of another person with no real consequences for those persons who willingly took part in the injustice against the person accused.

    The inoccently accused usually has lost everything in order to clear himself only to be treated with a cold shoulder afterwards due to continued suspicion.

    The Justice and Legal System of the world, and espeacially here in the Cayman Islands, have become a pit of vipers looking to get rich quick without any real justice being served. They have long drawed out court appearences, with fancy words spoken that in common language really only means “I aint got to it yet”.

    But the worst here in the Cayman Islands is the DPP’s office, which has and still is being used for personal vendettas and the highlight of this has been the fact that even after 2-4 yrs they still can not prosecute a person because they have no case and in order to frustrate and continue to financialy ruin these persons they go to court and state that the investigation is continuing. This is a fact backed by evidence if anyone cares to search for it.

    Lawyers here cost anywhere from $300 to $1500 per hour. Depending on which law firm. And they only take your case when a bulk deposit has been made usually of $5000 up to $25,000 CI.

    So yeh lets cut off their source of income so the will be forced to plead guilty, even in the face of inoccence. They will lose their homes, families, just basically everything. Then the state can pay welfare for them and their families for years. They more often than not, due to the stigma, wont be able to get another job.even after their proved inoccent they suffer. But those who did the miscarrage of Justice and wrongful Prosecution carry on, happily smiling and persecuting anyone they see fit, colkecting the countries money and continuing in thier blissful stupidity.

    Good idea Ezzard, lets force them to plead guilty, it will save us a alot of money, OR NOT.

    What happened to the DPP code of ethics that states a full test of the Publics Interest is conducted. Not here. They do not follow this rule.

    But I am sure they will do a press release to ensure the public they do. The press will run it, as usual. The press will not investigate the numerous and thousands of wrongfull prosecutions and lawsuits that followed. Why, because the Govt covers it arse with non disclosure agreements and that bury’s them from the publics view.

    One thing here is for sure, the more money you have and the higher you are socially, the better justice you have. That’s what the Justice and Legal System here in the Cayman Islands has come too.

  22. Mismanagement Inspectorate says:

    Franz Manderson is proving himself a failure as Deputy Governor. There is no consistency in how decisions and terminations are made and no steps have to taken to make long over due changes to the Public Service Management Law.

    Two years on paid leave due to suspension without formal charges being brought is a waste of public monies and means nothing changes so the mismanagement continues while resources squandered.

    • Anonymous says:

      Bet ya if they were not Caymanian Civil Servants, Franz would have had the matter resolved many moons ago and the cases would have not dragged out this long.

    • Anonymous says:

      So if Linda Evans was not charged what the hell they waiting on? no excuses there…. sounds like an internal matter but why some 18 months later is it not sorted? disgraceful!

    • Anonymous says:

      Mismanagement insp ….a

      Franz performance has been amazing. Finally there is accountability in the civil service. Guess you must be one of those civil servants Franz has strung up.

  23. Anonymous says:

    The Civil Service is just like the Glass House.

    The place is toxic, the lights are on and no one is home!

  24. Anonymous says:

    It is somewhat of a disgrace when the people that pay the wages have no idea where their money is going.
    Alden McLaughlin could have addressed this a long time ago.
    He has chosen not to.
    The people have no way of challenging these bastards.

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