Notice in paper a normal event, or something else?
CLICO International Life Insurance ran an advert on page 12 of Sunday’s Barbados Advocate to “…advise our policyholders and the public that GAIL RILEY is no longer authorized to transact business on our behalf.”
The notice went on to say, “We urge our policyholders to contact us… for any queries or requests they may have.”
Lots of folks leave their employers for all kinds of good and normal reasons such as taking a better position or wanting to do something different, but we can’t recall seeing CLICO Life publish such a notice before. Is it standard procedure when someone leaves their employ, or is there a story behind the notice?
We intend no grief to Gail Riley, and she’s probably a nice person who is moving on to better things, but the “CLICO” name is newsworthy at the moment for obvious reasons so our interest is piqued.
Is there a story here, or just a normal advert?
Comments are open folks!
Barbados Free Press 
BFP, do you have any idea how much Leroy Parris was paid a month. Rumour, from a very reliable source, told me that he was making like 1.2 mil a month. I felt this sum to be quite farfetched. Can you verify?
The notice is highly unusual to my eyes. I’ve never seen anything like it except when something went wrong like someone representing themselves as still being with a company when they are not.
Could that be the case here?
It is a strange notice.
I come to this space from time to time. And nowadays I find it thoroughly amusing. It may not be a standard notice for CLICO, but most entities which have a sales force will publish these notices from time to time, in an attempt to protect customers or potential customers. And the reason does not have to be due to malpractice it could be because of a person leaving suddenly due to a basic falling out, over not coming to work on time or performing as expected. The company seeks to protect its interests by not having the person influence others based on feelings which may be stated explicitly or expected based on the situation. In other words, I work for company A, I have some personal issues which affect my performance , I am spoken to on occasion and because of these issues and the related pressure I react badly to Management’s reprimand, which results in a disciplinary issue or firing. I may get annoyed and make statements to Management which say either explicitly or implicitly that I wish the company some harm. (im being polite here) The point is the company seeks by such a notice to ensure that their interests are protected, full stop. I have seen such notices for years, from CLICO and other insurance companies, automotive dealerships, wholesalers etc.
I think as well BFP you should be careful that your foray into this does not cause undue hardship for the young lady, either as she closes this business relationship or attempts to open a new one. I find this is bordering on insensitive, maybe due to a lack of journalistic maturity, ie investigate and only highlight when a story is known, not highlight in the hopes it generates a story. Seems a bit National Enquirerish to me!
What is abnormal about the notice is that I cannot recall a photograph being included for other departures. It is normally a bland statement in a box.
I don’t know the history behind this matter however I think generally the relationship between employer and employee is confidential.
If I am correct then this would consititute a breach of that confidentiality. In addition the advertisement is clearly defamatory even if only by inference. I think this woman should hire an attorney or if she can’t afford one, then some attorney should take on her case, pro bono and persue Clico.
Advertisements like this can and often do cause irrepairable harm to a persons reputation and consequently prejudice their chances for future employment.
This non-sense has to stop and while at it Barbados needs to mature and stop reporting on criminal matters in the newspapers.
@Laughing – if people got sacked for not coming to work on time or performing as expected, the entire gov (DLP & BLP) would be sacked a long time ago plus about 75% of everyone else.
Given CLICO’s mess, any news from them is more than the cover story.
Johnny Postle
You must be in error by at least two zeros?
Given his stewardship of Clico in Barbados 1.2 million is what he should be paying back each month.
Nothing unusual about this. Insurance and other sales companies have done this type of info-ad .
@caribman
Have you really seen a notice like this that included a photo of the person?
Najab,
I agree with you.
Her potential to be be reemployed could be harmed as the inference of this advertisement is negative.
I have seen such ads. (but not with the person’s face), and the first thing you tend to think is that the former employee did something wrong.
This type of advertising should not go unchallenged.
These notices are in the papers all the time, some with photos, so it’s nothing exceptional.
I find it weird though. Never seen one in USA, UK or Canada – ever.
If it’s defamatory, there must be a lot of defamed people in Barbados.
Reality Check
I found the sum to be quite unrealistic but I still would like to know if it is true or not.
I think this is distasteful how this company has posted the young lady’s picture like this.
Do companies have the power to post employees pictures however and wherever they feel like?
I think it is further distasteful that BFP has compounded the error by posting it on the internet as this can affect this young lady in the future. I think BFP should do the honourable thing and pull this article from its archives.
St.George’s Dragon,
“These notices are in the papers all the time, some with photos, so its nothing exceptional”
Now this is truly majoring in fiction!.
-“In the paper all the time?” I don’t see them “all the time” How do you quantify “all the time”
-“Some with photos” Never seen these “some”. The bloggers seem to be of the same mind as well
-“Noting “exceptional?”The majority of the bloggers seem to think it is (Of course, with the exception of you).
Any company that would operate at this level (in the gutter) does not deserve the public’s patronage. I would be afraid to put trust in a company which threats someone who must have helped that company in someway in a manner such as this. Simply distasteful, no class whatsoever.
Laughing,
You say it seems “National Enquirerish” to you.
Fair enough, but how would you know that unless you read the National Enquirer? 🙂
This happens all the time, but this is first time I saw a photo go along with it – I do agree it seems nasty. However, I remember years ago when calypsonian Brian “Bumba” Payne was a salesperson at Solar Dynamics and when he left?
BUMBA took an ad himself before Solar Dynamics could publish, and the ad stated he will no longer accept monies for Sol-Dyn and any queries should be directed that way as he changed jobs!
I laughed so bad, when I saw him at next Dale Carnegie lesson, he and I had a great laugh and spoke on it at length.
In the interest of good taste, BFP please at least blur the picture. I agree, I have seen these before but NEVER with a photo.
And saying it’s National Enquirish does not mean we do not read the said publication, it merely gives a comparison between you two.
Nice to see Mr. Bourne, I love when you name drop!
To Johnny Postle:
I suspect that the sum exceeds $25K/mt in salary. Adding perks and other incidentals, it can probably reach $50~60K+/mt. 1.2Mill is not far fetched however as yearly compensation when you add in preferential stock and other executive bonuses. That amounts to a cool and even $100k /mt. But I am certain that his pay gets parceled out in such a way that his tax ceiling stays within managable heights.
Now on to the matter at hand. Put simply, whether this young lady did something good, bad or indifferent, CLICO was ORDERED to CEASE & DESIST from selling any other insurance in Barbados and did not comply. The Supervisor of Insurances is a weasel and has no teeth.
Probably they should replace the picture of her with their own company logo and her name with theirs. That would really be in the public interest
over the last few years i have seen 3 of these notices (including this one) and all 3 have included a picture. i remember one specifically resulted in a court case but i am not sure whether this one should be viewed as negative or not but it certainly does paint a negative picture in this reader’s mind
CLICO INSURANCE is a benefits and social security provider to people who have been breed specifically from underground facilities in the Caribbean. CLICO pays social security money for housing and benefits money just as you have a social security system in the UK. Then these individuals are given a white rubber suit with a UK accent and a british passport by the local british embassy to live and work in the UK.