Ex-security guard wins Lm4,600 in damages

Mr Justice Philip Sciberras yesterday upheld a claim filed by a security guard at the Malta Drydocks and awarded him compensation of Lm4,647.

The judgment was delivered in the case filed by Austin Gonzi against the Malta Drydocks Corporation. In 2004 the government continued the case on behalf of the Drydocks.

Mr Gonzi said that in May 1997 he had been charged with disciplinary offences and was informed by the Disciplinary Board that he was to be suspended for three weeks and transferred.

The first Appeals Board had reduced the period of suspension to two weeks but had confirmed his transfer. A second Appeals Board had not given him the opportunity to present his case, Mr Gonzi said, adding that the Drydocks had refused to appoint an independent referee as provided for in the disciplinary regulations. He claimed that the proceedings against him had violated his right to a fair hearing and that his transfer was ultra vires the disciplinary regulations.

Mr Gonzi also asked the court to award him damages.

In a preliminary judgment delivered in October 2004, the First Hall of the Civil Court had found in favour of Mr Gonzi and had ruled that the Drydocks' actions were ultra vires the disciplinary regulations.

When determining the damages award, Mr Justice Sciberras said that Mr Gonzi was claiming that he ought to be awarded Lm9,294.60. This sum represented his loss of income for the three-year period in which he no longer worked as a security guard due to his transfer.

But the court noted that this matter could not be reduced solely to a mathematical calculation. It resulted that Mr Gonzi had deserved some form of disciplinary action, even though that adopted by the Disciplinary Board had been ultra vires. The court therefore ordered the Drydocks to pay Mr Gonzi damages to the tune of Lm4, 647.