The Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) will now determine the outcome of the case in which popular radio broadcaster and veteran calypsonian Ronald De Announcer Clarke is claiming unfair dismissal by Starcom Network.
Clarke’s attorney Hal Gollop, KC, disclosed on Thursday that efforts at the level of the Labour Department to resolve the issue had reached a ‘road block.’
“He [Clarke] has advised the Labour Department that he wants it to go before the Employment Rights Tribunal. We are waiting on them now to see what they do,” Gollop told Barbados TODAY.
Asked why the matter was going before the ERT, the senior counsel said it was “because attempts at reconciliation broke down. The attempts at mediation by the Labour Department broke down, so we put it to the Tribunal to do what they have to do.”
When contacted for comment, general manager of Starcom Network Anthony Greene said he was not in a position to comment on the latest development.
Back in November last year, Clarke was dismissed by Starcom after the company found him guilty of serious misconduct following an internal disciplinary hearing, in a move that shocked the media and entertainment community.
His termination letter, signed by Noel Wood, chief executive officer of parent company the Nation Group, informed Clarke, the former programme director of Voice of Barbados, that the “misconduct” related to comments he made on the Marcia Weekes Show on July 16.
Clarke’s remarks referred to Starcom’s alleged objection to his performing his controversial hit calypso National Carol Festival in the Pic-o-de-Crop competition.
The company identified three of the seven statements made during the broadcast as breaches of Starcom’s Policies and Procedures Manual. The letter stated: “The statements were made in relation to Starcom Network Inc. and in a public forum, are false and malicious, and obviously and significantly detrimental to the best interests of Starcom Network in so far as they are disparaging, undermine the credibility [of] and directly attack the company.”
One of Clarke’s offending statements cited was: “‘We have this fear of addressing what they call the elephant in the room… When you are in an arena, transparency and fact are an expectation of the people that support you, whether they listen to you, whether they spend money with you, whether they work for you. It’s hard to be in a situation where you see that is not being delivered.”
Days later, general manager Greene issued a statement contending their action had nothing to do with his 2025 calypso hit.
Greene pointed out then, that Starcom ended its relationship with Clarke following the conclusion of a formal disciplinary process which concluded on November 7.
He said the disciplinary process was engaged with Clarke in pursuance of the company’s internal protocols, national labour laws, and conducted by lawyers on both sides.
(EJ)
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