By Hilbert Haar
The battle of former Secretary-General Hensley Plantijn with the government over his dismissal is a rather painful example of how not to do things. It becomes even more painful when media reports suggest that Plantijn prevailed in court because the government chose not to show up for an appeal hearing.
As our review of the court rulings shows, that no-show claim has no merit. The Governor, who was the right person to address this case, was represented in court by his attorney. The Council of Appeal for Civil Servants Affairs decided to give both parties the opportunity to reach a mutual agreeable settlement. When that did not work out, the court closed the investigation and issued its ruling.
Why? I was not there of course, but I figure that the court had all the information from both sides at its disposal for a thoughtful decision. Nobody argued about this point, so I also figure that both parties were fairly certain about the outcome of the case, even though it was clear from the get go that somebody was going to be disappointed.
That somebody was in this case the governor, because the court annulled the decision to dismiss Plantijn who in the meantime has found employment as legal advisor to the current Prime Minister Luc Mercelina.
I don’t know what Plantijn did after his dismissal, but one thing is certain: he missed out on the salary he was entitled to as secretary-general. The court ruling does not say anything about what has to happen next but it would not surprise me if Plantijn would now go after the government with a claim for lost income.
The dismissal dispute has also damaged Plantijn’s reputation. The government basically argued that he was unfit for the function, that he did not communicate properly and that he did not follow instructions. If all this were true, Plantijn would be a serious troublemaker and no employer in his right mind would want to touch him with a ten-foot pole.
Apparently, Prime Minister Luc Mercelina does not think that way because he hired Plantijn as legal advisor.
In the meantime, the debate about Plantijn has been raging on (where else?) social media where even a convicted criminal expressed his support for the man.
When everything is said and done, one could argue that Plantijn found justice at the Council of Appeal. That is of course true, but in the meantime his name has been dragged through the mud by a government that ought to know better.
May be it is better to say that politicians ought to know better, because they are at the heart of this whole unsavory affair. Damaging someone’s integrity and skills is easy in a small community like St. Maarten. And, as former prosecutor Van der Schans liked to say: “Confidence arrives on foot but it leaves on horseback.”
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Related article:
Appeals Court sides with Plantijn in dismissal dispute
Column: Presentatie is geen participatie
PM Mercelina reinstates Secretary-General Plantijn
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