Incorporated Trustees of the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Trinidad are being sued by their former project manager for allegedly not being paid for over 10 months. However, the church said the project manager was overpaid by $29,000.
Lawsuit Against Trustees of the Anglican Church
The lawsuit alleging that Kendal Lindsay breached an agreement was initially filed at the end of February. On Thursday, Jun 13, it was brought before Justice Frank Seepersad for handling the case. Justice Seepersad issued the parties instructions for additional files during the brief hearing and then postponed it until November 20. According to the court documents that Lindsay filed, which the Guardian Media acquired, Lindsay asserted that in late 2017, he agreed on a verbal contract with Ernest Williams, who was serving as the chairman of the management board of the complex at the time, to supply his services on two projects that were being undertaken by the complex.
Among the tasks involved is the construction of a building with a cost of $4.5 million to house a well-known coffee chain, and the additional project involved the renovation of the complex's wastewater treatment plant for $800,000. Lindsay asserted that under the agreement, he was released from the obligation to send his $20,000 monthly fee to the engineering company hired for both projects. The former project manager also revealed that he had been compensated for several months. Still, he decided to stop working in January 2020 because he had not been paid for the previous 10 months.
Based on a report from Daily Express, Lindsay indicated that he was asked many questions concerning the project during a virtual meeting in February 2021 between him and the new chairman of the CSC board. However, he asserted that no decision was taken regarding settling his unpaid payments. In April of 2021, the church refuted his claims that they were in debt to him and suggested that Lindsay had received excessive compensation.
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Anglican Church Trustees' Defense of the Allegations
News Day reported that the church stated that it was the owner of the shopping center, which is managed by a board that is accountable to the established trustees of the church. As mentioned, in 2017, the church blessed a variety of initiatives that would be carried out at the complex, and the board chairman would be in charge of managing those initiatives. Accordingly, the finance board was unaware of an agreement that had been formed between the engineer's company and Lindsay; once it became aware of it, investigations were carried out.
According to the defense, the engineer decided to opt out of his settlement agreement with Lindsay in August 2018. At this point, Lindsay began submitting his invoices to the CSC's board of directors. They argued that the former chairman of the CSC exceeded his position of power by hiring Lindsay's services without first seeking the approval of the CSC. The church also mentioned that any direct involvement with him was not authorized, nor had the company's finance board been given a contract to review. Furthermore, while it does not dispute that Lindsay was recruited to perform services by the previous chairman of the CSC, investigations reveal that the project manager was compensated by $29,000.
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