Former UCC Lecturers Push For Multi-Million-Dollar Wrongful Dismissal Settlement

Two ex-lecturers at the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean are still pursuing a settlement more than a year after the institution declined to extend their contracts, saying they were unfairly removed and remain owed compensation.

Their two-year agreements expired on January 3, 2025. The former lecturers say UCC’s decision not to renew them was influenced by suspicions that they helped generate media coverage about staff salary grievances and workplace conditions. They describe the action as wrongful dismissal and are each seeking between $9 million and $11 million, which they say reflects as much as two years of income.

Dr Veronica Reid, who served as a faculty representative at UCC from 2020 to 2024, said she believes the contract decision may have been connected to staff issues aired in two Jamaica Observer stories published in late 2024 and early 2025.

"I think we were fired in retaliation to two newspaper articles," Reid told The Gleaner. "We had a new president who did not like having the issues of the staff being publicised. There was no reason given for our contracts not being renewed."

Reid said she and a male colleague had been placed on the January semester schedule, with courses and timetables already assigned, before letters arrived advising that their contracts would not continue.

She said faculty representatives had repeatedly raised pay and working-condition concerns with university management, but those discussions lost momentum after new leadership took over.

"The previous president had agreed to certain things, and there was a salary review which showed that staff were significantly underpaid. After the new president came in, there was no further discussion on those issues," she said.

Reid said she had no role in the newspaper reports and believes her position as faculty representative made her a target.

The lecturers said they first looked at returning to their posts, but did not accept UCC’s proposal.

"They said they were willing to reinstate us, but it was only for four months. That is not reinstatement," Reid said. "A proper reinstatement would have put us back in the position we expected to be in, with another two-year contract."

Documents reviewed by The Gleaner indicate that UCC first put forward four-month contracts, then later offered compensation of up to nine months’ salary.

Reid said losing the job pushed her to move to the United States to find steady employment.

"We’ve been negotiating for over a year," she said. "At this point, I would settle for one year, but they don’t want to come up to that level."

The other lecturer, who asked not to be named, said he had spent more than four years at UCC and had also been included on the teaching roster for the semester after his contract expired.

"To me, that suggested my service would have continued," he said. "There was no issue raised with my performance and no indication that my contract would not be renewed."

He said UCC also did not give him the one month’s notice he said was required under his contract.

"There was no one-month notice given," he said.

The lecturer said the way he left UCC has hurt his efforts to find stable work.

"When I go to interviews, people ask why I left the institution," he said. "I have no explanation because no reason was given. It leaves people to speculate."

The 53-year-old said he has depended on temporary jobs since leaving the university and has been affected both financially and emotionally.

"I’ve suffered numerous damages, not only in terms of loss of income, but also humiliation, embarrassment, emotional distress, and so forth. So I think what I’m asking for is quite reasonable, given the circumstances," he said.

The National Workers’ Union, which first acted on behalf of the lecturers, wrote to UCC seeking a review and reinstatement. In a January 17, 2025 letter, the union said notice provisions in the contracts had been violated and argued that, because both lecturers had worked for more than four years, they ought to be regarded as permanent workers under Jamaican labour law. The union also challenged the lack of detailed reasons for the non-renewals and requested an investigation, compensation, and a review of UCC’s employment practices.

UCC’s position was that its January 3, 2025 letter amounted to notice that the contracts would not be renewed, not a dismissal. The university later offered each lecturer a settlement equal to six months’ net pay and agreed to pay one month’s net salary.

Vincent Morrison, president of the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees, which is now representing the lecturers, said: "I think they have an excellent case. I think the termination is most wrongful."

He said offers had been placed on the table, but added: "I don’t think the lecturers want to return to the university at this point. Compensation is the ideal way to settle the matter."

UCC President Professor Colin Gyles did not respond to the substance of the claims, saying the matter is still under discussion.

"I am unable to comment on the specific matter because it is being discussed," he said.