AIRPORT--Princess Juliana International Airport SXM Managing Director Regina LaBega has been put on sick leave by her doctor, but will resume her fiduciary duties on her return, according to her corporate attorney Lucas Berman. This is because he has found her suspension by the airport’s Holding Company, as reported in yesterday’s edition of The Daily Herald, void.
The recently-announced three-month suspension was handed out by the airport’s Holding Company after an extraordinary meeting, just two days after LaBega was praised in Parliament for an excellent job at the helm of the airport.
The suspension directly followed a closed-court decision on Tuesday in her case brought against Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs’ instruction to remove her from the post because her position of trust needed a Certificate of No Objection which he has not given.
Someone who does not receive said certificate cannot stay in a position of trust, but cannot be fired either, LaBega’s other attorney Cor Merx explained previously.
Although the Court did not rule entirely in her favour, government agreed during the proceedings not to impose any administrative fines on the airport pending the administrative appeal.
This means there was no apparent need to suspend her and as such, LaBega could hold office in any event pending the administrative appeal without any legal consequences for her and the company, Berman explained.
He told this newspaper that numerous formal requirements had not been met and that the validity of the resolution – and consequently the suspension – had been contested. The resolution is void because there are numerous flaws in the resolution itself and in the resolution-making process, he said.
Berman added that they had not been notified of her suspension in writing, nor had LaBega been heard about the suspension.
The entire situation has had consequences in regard to her health, he said, and she has been put on sick leave. However, on her return she will continue to carry out her fiduciary duties towards the company as she has been doing the past four years until now, he added.
LaBega’s suspension ‘void,’ says attorney
