When LeYoni Junos was approached to become director of the African Diaspora Heritage Trail (ADHT) Foundation, she envisaged a long and happy career working in a field she is passionate about.

The post was a temporary one, expected to last for 18 months to two years, but Ms Junos hoped it would lead to permanent employment when the publicly-funded foundation eventually began operating independently from Government.

She started work there in mid-August 2007, with the formal job title of administrator. A month later the Premier's then chief of staff described her in an e-mail as the ADHT director, having "full dominion over all ADHT matters".

But things were to change. On December 14, 2007, a US company hired by the Department of Tourism as event planners for ADHT conferences — aimed at highlighting the cultural achievements of people of the African Diaspora — sent an e-mail advising recipients how to make financial donations to the foundation.

The message from Henderson Associates Inc., claiming that the foundation had charitable status in the US and asking for cheques to be sent to an organisation called FACTS Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland, set off alarm bells for Ms Junos.

Having never heard of FACTS and knowing that ADHT, which last year received more than $330,000 from the public purse, had yet to gain charitable status in the States, she flagged up her concerns to her bosses and the lawyer advising the foundation.

They clearly shared her worries. Evidence submitted to the court to support Ms Junos' civil case against Government for unlawful dismissal included e-mails from her superiors asking Henderson Associates — run by brother and sister Jake Henderson and Gaynelle Henderson-Bailey — to retract the misleading claims and explain the exact nature of FACTS.

Lawyer Bala Nadarajah wrote on December 27 that he was angry that Mr. Henderson had made "such completely false representations" and that the Premier and the ADHT board needed to be informed.

The next day, the Cabinet Secretary and Tourism permanent secretary were told that immediate action might be required.

But on March 11, 2008, nothing had been resolved, as evidenced by an e-mail from acting tourism director Ian MacIntyre to the Hendersons asking them to retract their claims about ADHT.

On March 26, Ms Junos flagged up in an e-mail the fact that the same false information had been posted on the ADHT.net website, a situation Mr. Nadarajah replied to say he found "truly unbelievable".

In court, Government's lawyer Gregory Howard suggested the inaccurate information had not appeared on the website for very long.

Within a fortnight, Ms Junos was out of work. She told Supreme Court she had been "interrogated" by Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown, whom she claimed had "close ties" with the Hendersons, and threatened with dismissal, before being sacked on April 10 by Mr. MacIntyre.

The day before she had written an open letter to the ADHT board defending herself against comments made by Dr. Brown about her at a board meeting after she was asked to leave the room.

She wrote: "Since December 2007, ADHT has been publicly circulating false and fraudulent information about the ADHT Foundation."

Puisne Judge Ian Kawaley dismissed her claim that she was the victim of political interference. But in his judgement he said there seemed to be a lack of clarity about whether her job was managerial or administrative and that when she raised "awkward questions" this was used against her with a decision to limit her role to administration.

He said there was no suggestion that the inaccurate claims made by the Hendersons were motivated by anything other than "excessive enthusiasm" to raise funds for ADHT.

The judge said it was usual for tensions to arise between public officers and private contractors, as the former had to ensure taxpayers' money was well spent.

He wrote: "This natural tension may well have been exacerbated in the present case by a heady cocktail of aggravating factors including (a) the applicant's poorly defined job description, (b) her intellectual horsepower and combative spirit (on full display in these proceedings), and (c) (according to the applicant at least) Henderson's ability to communicate directly with the Minister."

The judge, agreeing that she was unlawfully dismissed, said the fact that Ms Junos had a meeting with the Minister on April 9 and was sacked the next day was "insufficient to support an inference that political interference was the operative cause of the termination".

He added: "This court can only analyse evidence in legal, as opposed to radio talk show, terms."

What remains unclear is why the Hendersons sent out the inaccurate information and what the FACTS Institute had to do with ADHT.

Tourism director William Griffith was believed to be off the Island yesterday and did not respond to questions from The Royal Gazette about the topic. The Hendersons could not be reached for comment.