News

On 9 February 2026, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council dismissed an appeal brought by a former housekeeping supervisor at the Albany luxury resort in The Bahamas, thereby upholding the decisions of both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal of The Bahamas.

Henry Hickman, Head of Litigation at Sinclair Gibson, acted as London Agent for the Respondent. The Respondent was represented by Charles Bagot KC together with Sara Ibrahim, both of Gatehouse Chambers, together with their instructing attorney in The Bahamas, Giahna Soles-Hunt of Glinton Sweeting O’Brien. The team successfully secured the dismissal of the appeal on all grounds.

The facts of the case 

The Appellant, Tyson Strachan, had been employed as a housekeeping supervisor at the Respondent’s luxury resort on the island of New Providence, The Bahamas. While carrying bags of towels, he slipped on a wet tiled surface near the pool area and sustained injuries. He was admitted to hospital for six days and subsequently underwent three months of physiotherapy. He was granted sick leave following the accident.

Almost a year after the accident, the Appellant’s employment was terminated. The Respondent paid him a severance sum of $9,607.08. 

The Appellant commenced proceedings in negligence, alleging that the Respondent had failed to ensure that the premises were reasonably safe for lawful visitors and had failed to erect adequate warning signs. He also alleged that he had been unfairly disengaged from his employment while on sick leave arising from an industrial accident, contending that this amounted to a breach of his contract of employment.

The negligence claim

On the evidence, the wet tiles in the outdoor area were caused by rain. Further, there was no evidence that some other employee, for whom the Respondent would be vicariously liable, caused water to be on the tiles. It was therefore open to the Judge to find that “the presence of water at the pool attendant’s area did not arise from any want or care on the [Respondent’s] part”. 

In addition, the Respondent had taken the precaution of putting down tiles in the area which were specifically designed to reduce the risk of slipping in wet conditions in the affected area. Indeed, the Appellant accepted that this precaution was effective. In those circumstances, the Judicial Committee held that the Judge was correct to dismiss the negligence claim. 

The unfair dismissal claim

The Judicial Committee observed that the Appellant had provided no particulars in support of this aspect of the appeal, whether as to the legal basis of the claim or the evidential foundation for the assertions that the notice pay was inadequate or that he should have been covered by medical insurance between his dismissal and the expiry of the notice period. Indeed, the Appellant was unable to state his notice entitlement before the Judicial Committee. The Board accordingly dismissed this ground of appeal.

Acting as Privy Council Agent

Over the last twenty years, the Litigation Department, led by Henry Hickman, has acted in Privy Council appeals from most major offshore jurisdictions across a broad spectrum of legal issues and is one of the most instructed firms in the City of London on such appeals. The firm provides an efficient and cost-effective service to offshore law firms, assisting both local attorneys and London counsel (where instructed). 

In December 2024, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council issued new rules which govern the procedure of appeals. Since then, Sinclair Gibson has been instructed on several appeals and has consequently built-up significant working knowledge of the new rules, together with its pre-existing experience. 

This case is one of many successful appeals handled by the team. It was a pleasure to work alongside Glinton Sweeting O’Brien in The Bahamas and Gatehouse Chambers in London on this matter.