Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

Clarke

Retired president and chief executive officer of Scotiabank Jamaica, William 'Bill' Clarke, is now engaged in a legal battle in the Supreme Court to prevent the bank from evicting him from the house which was assigned to him.

Clarke wants to remain in the house until his retirement package has been settled and is seeking a court order to bar the bank from evicting him.

Clarke is also seeking to bar the bank from taking away the two motor cars which were assigned to him until the dispute in relation to the retirement package has been settled by arbitration.

"The bank is now demanding that I vacate the dwelling house and hand over the two motor vehicles and I fear that unless restrained by this court, the bank will take steps to evict me from the house I occupied since April 1997 and repossess the motor vehicles," Clarke said.

The Bank of Nova Scotia in Canada has advised him that by January 31, he is to vacate the house and hand over the motor vehicles.

The application for a restraining order, which was filed by the law firm Bishop and Fullerton on December 24, 2008, came before Revenue Court Judge Roy Anderson yesterday, but it was put off until January 21.

Lawyers from the law firm DunnCox, which represents Scotia-bank Jamaica, yesterday gave a consent order that Clarke would continue to be in possession of the house and the motor cars until January 31.

But the bank has not yet filed a defence to the suit.

Attorney-at-law Keith Bishop, who is one of the lawyers representing Clarke, told The Gleaner yesterday that when thematter comes before the court on January 21, Clarke will be applying for an injunction to remain in force until the dispute has been settled by arbitration.

Clarke, who is also represented by Dr Lloyd Barnett, said in court documents that on October 23, 2008, he received a letter from Bank of Nova Scotia in Canada advising him that by January 31 he was to vacate the dwelling house in St Andrew and hand over the keys to the BMW 750 motor car and Audi Q7 SUV to the bank.

Clarke, who was head of Scotiabank for 13 years until his retirement on November 1, 2008, said under the terms of the bank he was not due to retire until December 15, 2015, when he would be 65 years old.

He was employed to the bank since April 1968. He said to the best of his knowledge, he was in good health and had every intention to continue his service with the bank.

He said on July 16 last year, the board of directors of the bank requested that he go on early retirement on the basis that he would be provided with a fair and equitable retirement package.

He said he was also to be paid accrued contractual benefits and normal perquisites (casual incomes or profits).

Press release

Clarke said the chairman of the board of directors, Robert H. Pitfield, issued a press release on his early retirement.

Clarke said further that he and the bank agreed that the retirement package would be settled by negotiation before he proceeded on retirement.

He said when it appeared that the negotiations of his retirement plan might not result in an agreement prior to the projected date of his retirement, he proposed to the board that the dispute be referred to arbitration.

In his affidavit, Clarke said, during a meeting of the board of directors on October 21 last year, his proposal for the dispute to be referred to arbitration was accepted.

Clarke is contending that in breach of the agreement for arbitration, the bank has taken the position that although negotia-tions had failed and had ended, it would not pursue arbitration as the alternative method of settling the dispute as to what is a fair and equitable retirement plan for him.

He contends further that in making arrangements for his early retirement, it was agreed that he would be paid all accrued contractual benefits and continue to enjoy certain perquisites pertaining to his status as president and CEO, pending the arbitrators' determination of the dispute.

Clarke claims that the perquisites include residing in the dwelling house that the bank had assigned to him and possession of the two motor vehicles.