The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Nurses Union president Muriel Lightbourn has described as a technicality the Supreme Court ruling that her suspension of two top union executives was unlawful, though the judgment found the pair were suspended without investigation or trial and denied the right to be heard.

The union will hold its court-ordered election on November 6, with nominations on October 9, after the Registrar of Trade Unions set the dates, Mrs Lightbourn said. Justice Camille Darville-Gomez had ordered nominations by October 14 and the vote by November 13.

Mrs Lightbourn said the suspensions of first vice-president Sheniqua Cox and secretary general Shavone Brennen arose from complaints within the union. She said the court took issue with the timing of the appeals committee, not the grounds for the suspensions, and that an executive had been given the opportunity to appeal.

"It was a technicality based on the fact of the timing of the appeal committee," she said.

The appeals committee was among the defects the judge identified. Mrs Lightbourn appointed it on April 22, 2025, the day before the suspension letters went out. The union's constitution requires that committee to be elected at the first regular membership meeting after elections.

However, the September 30 judgment found the breaches went further. No investigation committee was appointed, no trial was convened, and no specially elected committee was formed to hear charges against the two officers, as the constitution requires before suspension. Justice Darville-Gomez found the pair were denied the right to be heard and suspended in breach of natural justice, and declared the suspensions unconstitutional, unlawful and void.

She also rejected the argument that the right to appeal made up for those failures.

"Similarly, in the present case," Justice Darville-Gomez wrote, "the absence of the constitutionally required disciplinary machinery cannot be cured merely by pointing to a general right of appeal."

The judge did note inconsistencies in the union's constitution over whether the appeals committee is appointed or elected, and recommended that the incoming executive update it.

Mrs Lightbourn said Ms Cox's suspension stemmed from a separate judgment, which she said triggered a constitutional provision requiring the suspension of any executive against whom a judgment had been entered.

According to the ruling, a default judgment was entered against Ms Cox and two others in a civil claim the union brought over the alleged misappropriation of union funds. Ms Cox testified that the executive committee had resolved to discontinue that action before the union's attorney entered the judgment in March 2025.

The suspension provision set out in the judgment applies to officers on whom charges are served for alleged breaches of the constitution or by-laws. It does not mention court judgments.

The ruling directed the president and executive board to follow the election timetable. Mrs Lightbourn said the Registrar now appears to be directing the process, and that the union is awaiting further instructions ahead of nominations.

The judgment also refused the executives' bid to have Mrs Lightbourn declared a non-member over alleged unpaid dues. She has previously said she will seek another term as president.