In an unprecedented move, retired High Court judge Dr Sonia Richards has sued the State and former Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham, alleging she was unlawfully locked out of her office and unlawfully forced from her post.
In a 25-page court filing, Dr Richards claimed she was locked out of her office, not properly considered for an extension of her tenure beyond age 65 and removed from office in breach of the Constitution.
The suit alleges that the defendants contravened her constitutional rights, defamed her, breached her terms of employment as a High Court judge and caused her suffering.
Through her attorney Lalu Hanuman, Dr Richards, who filed the action last year and served the parties last week, named the Office of the Attorney General as the first defendant and Sir Patterson as the second, in his capacity as Chief Justice at the time.
Dr Richards, who was appointed to the Bench on April 1, 2006 and retired on May 17, 2022 at age 66, is asking the court to award her exemplary and vindicatory damages, costs fit for two counsel, interest, and such further or other relief as the court deems fit, according to filings dated April 4, 2025.
When contacted on Tuesday, Attorney General Wilfred Abrahams would only say he is aware of the matter, while the former chief justice denied all of the allegations levelled against him by the retired judge.
Sir Patterson told Barbados TODAY exclusively: “I have had discussions with the AG about representation, and I am waiting for word from him. I reject all of the assertions in there… deny all, reject all. But I will await the AG to tell me who will be the external counsel that will work for me.”
Apart from the award of damages, the retired judge is also asking the court for declarations that the defendants breached her constitutional rights to protection from deprivation of property without compensation, protection of the law, and protection from inhumane or degrading punishment or other treatment.
Dr Richards claimed that on April 6, 2022, Sir Patterson demanded that she return her swipe card and office keys, but she refused. She also alleged that on April 12, when she turned up at the White Park Road Supreme Court Complex, she was unable to enter the building with her key or access her office with her swipe card.
She was assisted by security to enter the building but was informed that the lock to her office had been changed and observed that her name was removed from the office door, she said.
She eventually gained access to her office but saw files there she had not left, and later learned that an acting judge had been allowed in, she claimed.
Her card was reactivated shortly before she retired, but a key was never provided, Dr Richards added.
She also alleged that the events of April 12, 2022 were the culmination of years of abuse, during which she was given more work than other judges and worked most weekdays until 9 p.m., or 10 p.m.
The former judge alleges that the act of being locked out of her office defamed her, because it suggested to her judicial associates, other employees, lawyers and members of the public that she had no right or authority to access the building or her office, and that she had done something wrong.
She said that six months before her 65th birthday, she wrote to the prime minister requesting a two-year extension of her tenure but was granted a one-year extension by the then governor general. But there was no discussion between her and the viceroy as mandated by section 84 (1A) of the Constitution, she claimed.
As a result of the actions of the defendants and other senior officers and well-respected officials, she became ill, was depressed and withdrawn, did not want to leave home, lost her appetite and could not sleep, Dr Richards claimed.
No date has yet been set for the hearing.
