Sacked CEO vows legal action
Dismissed Health Services Authority CEO Craig Brown has already engaged the services of an attorney and will take action against the HSA ‘to protect those of my legal rights that have been infringed.’
Former Health Services Authority CEO Craig Brown will take legal action over his dismissal. Photo: File |
Mr. Brown made the statement in a press release issued the day after he was told by the HSA Board of Directors that his contract of employment was terminated immediately. A termination letter was given to Mr. Brown at the meeting.
‘The letter stated that the reason for my dismissal was that my employment relationship with the Health Services Authority had irretrievably broken down,’ Mr. Brown said in his statement.
Controversy enveloped Mr. Brown following the high-profile dismissal of former Chief Operating Officer Cathy Gomez, who is the sister of Cabinet Minister Charles Clifford and wife of long standing senior civil servant Kerney Gomez.
Health Minister Anthony Eden later said Mr. Brown had not handled the termination with the sensitivity he expected. He said he was told a letter was simply left on her desk advising of the termination.
He also said that had he known about Mrs. Gomez’s pending dismissal, he would have met with her beforehand to help soften the blow.
Mr. Brown refuted elements of those claims in his statement Tuesday.
‘Members of staff at the Health Services Authority, and no doubt members of the public, are aware that my dismissal is the culmination of recent events and pronouncements made to the press,’ he stated. ‘But both staff members and the public should know that some of those recent pronouncements were not completely accurate and have, in my opinion, tended to be misleading.’
Mr. Brown said that one of his responsibilities as CEO of the HSA was to maintain oversight of all aspects of the organisation’s management and to ensure that such management was efficient.
‘Decisions were made in that regard that did not meet with universal approval,’ he stated.
‘However, the Board of Directors of the Health Services Authority and the Ministry were fully briefed about the proposed personnel changes in advance of any action and whilst the Board unanimously approved of them, subsequent statements tended to erroneously criticise the way the personnel changes were made.’
Mr. Brown said the way the personnel changes were made would bear scrutiny.
‘Only those that were not prepared to accept such changes were subsequently notified of the fact that they were to leave in a timely manner,’ he stated.
Mr. Brown said his efforts to perform his duties were impeded by the HSA Board of Directors.
‘When I took the post of Chief Executive Officer at the Health Services Authority, it was on the basis that there was to be a clear distinction between the role of the Board of Directors of the Authority and the management of the Authority, and that the Board should transfer all responsibilities for the operation of the Authority to me as its newly appointed Chief Executive Officer,’ he stated.
‘Unfortunately, this did not occur and certain actions have impeded my ability to perform the job I was given pursuant to the provisions of the Health Services Authority Law (2005 Revision) and my contract of employment.’
Mr. Brown was only six months into a three-year contract.
‘I am proud of what I have accomplished at the Health Services Authority in my short time there and I am grateful to the staff members who have been so supportive and professional during that time,’ he said.
If Mr. Brown pursues legal action against the HSA as he stated he would, he would join former CEO Michael Elliott in suing the Cayman Islands Government. Mr. Elliott only lasted 10 months in what was then a newly-created position before he left March 2004.
A brief statement issued by the HSA Board of Directors Tuesday stated ‘after careful consideration, (the Board) has resolved to dismiss the Chief Executive Officer from his employment with immediate effect.’
Former Health Minister Gilbert McLean, who in a letter to the editor of the Caymanian Compass this week criticised the way the situation with Mr. Brown has been handled, said it was a mistake to terminate Mr. Brown.
Mr. McLean noted that the HSA is in need of major reforms.
‘The only way this can be handled is to do what (Mr. Brown) said.’
Mr. Brown’s dismissal leaves the HSA with an uncertain future, Mr. McLean said.
‘I don’t think they’ll ever be able to recruit someone else for that post,’ he said, adding that he wondered if the Board would now place Mrs. Gomez in the CEO position.
Mr. McLean also predicted a bad outcome of a potential legal action that Mr. Brown might commence.
‘If they haven’t offered this man $1 million and he sues… he might get more than $1 million,’ he said. ‘This man’s reputation has been knowingly and deliberately ruined.’
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