NARESH Siewah has been ordered to pay over $1 million to North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) CEO 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 ordered on Thursdayto pay $800,000 in general and aggravated damages plus 2.5 per cent interest from June 24, 2020-September 28, 2023; exemplary damages of $100,000; and $101,500 in costs.
Justice Margaret Mohammed also restrained Siewah from publishing or republishing any of the defamatory statements about Thomas.
He also has to apologise and retract all the statements authored by him and posts he published on his Facebook profile –
www.facebook.com/naresh.n.siewah/ – and the other profiles where he shared the posts.
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 and said they did not 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 in posting the allegations and assuring they would not be repeated.
Siewah also claimed his personal Facebook account had been 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.
[caption id="attachment_1037664" align="alignnone" width="1024"] NCRHA CEO Davlin Thomas[/caption]
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 and 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 form
