A few more details about former BVI Ports Authority Managing Director Claude Skelton-Cline’s lawsuit against government have been revealed in documents filed at the High Court Registry in February.
During his three-year tenure at the BVIPA, Mr. Skelton-Cline oversaw the $85 million-plus cruise pier project — a development that saw cost overruns of more than $30 million and missed construction target dates that resulted in lost tax revenue — until Cabinet declined to renew his contract in December 2015.
Mr. Skelton-Cline filed an application with the High Court in February 2016 seeking leave for a judicial hearing.
However, he was tight-lipped about the pending matter, other than telling reporters at an April 2016 press conference that he was suing to protect his reputation after the government’s “unjust” decision not to renew his contract.
The High Court granted the former ports manager’s application for judicial review last September, but few documents were available about the case until a claim form was filed at the High Court Registry in February.
That claim form explains that Mr. Skelton-Cline is seeking “an order of certiorari quashing the decision of the Cabinet in failing to approve the renewal” of his contract, as well as damages “including loss of earnings and diminution of job prospects.”
The latest filing at the Registry states that the parties were to “file a joint statement of facts, laws and issues” by Friday, but no further hearing dates are scheduled for the matter.