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A former Ministry of Public Utilities employee has threatened legal action against the ministry, alleging that it failed to disclose records requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) confirming his entitlement to unpaid benefits.
Mikey Latchman, who worked in the ministry’s Pension and Leave Unit from January 2014 to September 2022, submitted a FOIA request on January 8, seeking internal communications explaining why he was not paid for acting positions, contract entitlements, vacation leave, salary arrears, and why he was never made a permanent employee.
In its March 10 response, the ministry said no such documents existed.
However, Latchman later obtained a November 16, 2022, internal memorandum from the ministry’s legal division, which confirmed his entitlement to vacation leave, gratuity, and salary arrears, and recommended payment.
“This memo was known to the ministry and squarely within its custody at the time the FOIA response was issued.
“Its deliberate exclusion from the FOIA response is not a minor oversight; it is a misrepresentation of material fact.
“Worse still, it constitutes a breach of the ministry’s statutory duty under Section 16 of the FOIA, which requires public authorities to give access to official documents when requested, unless a lawful exemption applies.
“This type of non-disclosure, in the face of a statutory request, is exactly the kind of administrative failure condemned by the courts in recent decisions,” Latchman’s attorney Richard Jaggasar said in a strongly-worded pre-action letter on August 8.
The pre-action protocol letter demanded that the ministry explain its response to the FOIA request, outline the steps taken to locate the relevant documents and provide them.
Latchman intends to seek court declarations that the ministry acted unlawfully, an order for disclosure, damages, and costs if the matter is not resolved in 28 days.
“The defendant had a clear and unequivocal duty to actively seek out and provide the requested information, especially in circumstances where no other entity was responsible for maintaining this information.
“The intended claimant was misled. The ministry said no documents existed. That was untrue. Now that the existence of the internal memorandum, dated November 16, 2022, is no longer in dispute, it is clear that the ministry’s response to the FOIA request was plainly dishonest and legally actionable,” Jaggasar said.
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