Naresh Siewah has been ordered to pay over $1 million to the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) chief executive officer Davlin Thomas for defaming him in a series of Facebook posts in 2020.
Siewah, who, also in 2020, had to apologise to Thomas for another post, was on Thursday ordered to pay $800,000 in general and aggravated damages plus 2.5 per cent interest from June 24, 2020, to September 28, 2023; exemplary damages of $100,000 and $101,500 in costs.
Siewah was also restrained by Justice Margaret Mohammed from publishing or republishing any of the defamatory statements of Thomas.
He also has to apologise and retract all the statements authored by him and posts published by him on his Facebook profile -
www.facebook.com/naresh.n.siewah/ - and the other profiles he shared the posts on.
Thomas was represented by attorneys Farai Hove Masaisai, Jennifer Farah-Tull and Bernelle-Joy La Foucade of the firm Hove and Associates.
Attorney Leon Kalicharan represented Siewah.
Thomas, who is also hospital manager at Caura and the Mt Hope Women’s hospitals as well as vice-chairman and chairman of the National Carnival Commission’s finance and human resources committee, is also an artistic director, producer and stage manager.
He took legal action after Siewah posted 14 defamatory statements on his personal Facebook page and the pages TrinbagoLivesMatter and Voice of TnT99% between March and June 2020.
In his defence, Siewah denied publishing the words in the posts nor did it refer to Thomas. His attorney argued the publications were protected by qualified privilege. In response to a pre-action letter, Siewah “vehemently apologised” and removed the posts, accepting his mistake of posting the allegations and assuring they would not be repeated.
Siewah also claimed his personal Facebook account was hacked and the posts were generated by someone called “Johnny Walker” also called John Narine and accepted responsibility for the posts he made but not those by “Johnny Walker.”
The posts spoke of the removal and hiring of staff at institutions which fall under the NCRHA and spending practices, also questioning Thomas’s management.
Thomas maintained the posts were “inaccurate, misleading, disparaging, defamatory and malicious” and highlighted him negatively as they repeatedly used the words “corruption, misbehaviour in public office, nepotism and fraud,” recklessly without regard to accuracy and libel.
“The words were published with eye-catching headlines and featured prominently in capitals and/or bold print to further dramatise the posts. The sensational tone of the publications was an act of reckless disregard geared towards maliciously misinforming the public to tarnish the claimant’s reputation and disparage him,” Thomas’s attorneys argued.
Siewah contended that the posts were in the public’s interest and he had a moral duty to safeguard public funds from misuse.
Testifying for Thomas was former Tunapuna Piarco Regional Corporation chairman Kwasi Robinson.
In her ruling, Mohammed said his admission to some of the posts undermined the credibility of his assertion that his account was hacked by Johnny Walker, who made the other posts.
“In my opinion, this defence appeared to be a fabrication by the defendant.”
She said Thomas proved Siewah made the defamatory posts, including those he claimed were not his but admitted to them in cross-examination, which were shared hundreds of times.
The judge broke down each post and the meaning of the words which were defamatory.
“In my opinion, the defendant deliberately intended to lower the claimant’s reputation in the eyes of the public.”
In her ruling, Mohammed held that while seven of the posts contained information that was in the public’s interest, the posts also included words which were “not reasonable to include.”
“The tone in all these posts was insincere, pessimistic, sensational and scandalous,” she said. She also held that the posts did not meet the standards of responsible journalism.
“In those circumstances, I have concluded that the defendant has failed to make out his defence of qualified privilege…”
She also said the allegations against Thomas were “extremely serious” and amounted to a “continuous” personal attack on his integrity, professional reputation and honour.
Mohammed said the questions raised by Siewah in the defamatory posts could have been posed instead to the Minister of Health, the NCRHA’s board or even Thomas “in a more sincere tone and with respectful language.”
“However, the choice of the words used by the defendant in the defamatory posts were deliberate, malicious and intended to injure the claimant as CEO of the NCRHA and in his other professional and personal activities.”
“...In my opinion, the defendant was fully aware that his actions were intended to harm and discredit the claimant personally and professionally,” she said, adding that Siewah’s conduct was “wilful, intentional and reckless.”
“It was outrageous by any standards and cannot be condoned by this court. It was oppressive, and it was intended to ‘advantage’ the claimant given the very serious personal attacks on him and the sensational tone of the defamatory posts