HOURS after the Jamaica Observer highlighted the case of two former Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) adjunct lecturers who claim they were unfairly dismissed and are seeking millions of dollar in compensation from the institution, the university says it is open to settling the matter.

In a story published on Monday, August 5 and headlined ‘More trouble for CMU’, the two former employees, who requested anonymity, said they were forced to move the matter into the public space after the university failed to meet with them despite indicating that it would settle one of the cases out of court.

In a press release issued on the same day, the university said: “The CMU is continuing to negotiate with the two lecturers; remains open to settling the matter; and has been in meetings arranged in consultation with the Ministry of Labour.

“With regard to the immediate future of the discussions, the Ministry of Labour has called another conciliatory meeting and the CMU is awaiting the continuation of those negotiations to have the matter resolved amicably,” the document stated.

Last month, attorney for the lecturers Zaieta Skyers told the Jamaica Observer that her clients were dismissed unfairly in June 2018 despite having contracts which were scheduled to end on August 2020.

The attorney pointed to a letter she received from the CMU, dated August 17, 2018 which stated that the matter was referred to the Office of Legal and International Affairs by the Human Resource and Administration Department and that they were conducting an internal investigation into the matter.

The letter also stated that as soon as the investigation was completed, CMU would provide a formal response to Skyers’ demands.

According to Skyers, when she did not hear anything back from CMU, she wrote to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security requesting a conciliatory meeting and a date was set for the parties to meet at the ministry in February 2019.

However, she said that one day before the scheduled meeting, the university contacted her stating that it would like to settle the matter instead of going to the ministry. Skyers said she proposed a sum of $4.8 million in compensation for the dismissed lecturer.

In May 2019, the attorney received a letter and a cheque for $1,195,253.63, which CMU said was the full and final settlement for her client.

Skyers said she returned the cheque to the university as the amount was unacceptable, and has been unsuccessful in her efforts to arrange a meeting with officials of CMU since then.

“I haven’t heard anything from their attorney-at-law. We did another letter where we upgraded our figure from $4.8 million to $7.2 million on the basis that she needs to be compensated for damages because she has been out of a job since June 2018. We haven’t heard anything from CMU.

“We have been to the ministry twice for conciliatory meetings because the representative there indicated to us that letters and e-mails were sent to CMU and that they have received them,” added Skyers, who indicated that the compensation being demanded has now been increased to $10.5 million.

Yesterday, when the Jamaica Observer spoke with Skyers, she said the Ministry of Labour made contact hours earlier, and that two dates were suggested. She noted that, while she is awaiting a confirmation email, she has agreed to meet on August 12.