ST. CROIX — The Virgin Islands Supreme Court dismissed a civil lawsuit today that former At-Large Senator Steven Payne Sr. filed against the Legislature of the Virgin Islands claiming wrongful expulsion from the 34th Legislature following sexual harassment claims made in 2022 by one of his staffers at the time.
The 35th Legislature and Senate President Novelle Francis Jr. moved to dismiss, on several constitutional grounds, the lawsuit filed against them by Payne and Noellise Powell, a Virgin Islands taxpayer, according to the Supreme Court’s 28-page opinion.
Due to the importance of the issues raised in that motion, the Supreme Court granted the Legislature’s petition to transfer the underlying action to itself from the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands.
The Supreme Court today granted the Legislature’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ lawsuit in its entirety with prejudice, meaning it can not be refiled.
Francis thanked the Supreme Court for the “favorable decision.”
“It’s one of those situations where no one wins in these types of situations,” he said. “Obviously, the Legislature have been vindicated in this situation that we did act in the best interest of the people of the Virgin Islands.”
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the matter on March 12 from attorney Treston Moore, representing Payne, as well as from attorney Joseph Arellano, representing the Legislature.
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The Legislature, in its motion to dismiss, asserted that three separate provisions of the Revised Organic Act of 1954 barred the plaintiffs’ lawsuit. Those provisions include the “speech or debate clause” relating to immunity of members of the Legislature, “sovereign immunity” relating to consent of the Legislature for any tort action to be brought against the VI government, and “non-justiciability,” which relates to the Legislature being the sole judge of the elections and qualifications of its members.
The Supreme Court’s three justices — Chief Justice Rhys Hodge and Associate Justices Maria Cabret and Ive Swan — concluded that the “speech or debate clause” of the ROA provides absolute immunity from suit to the Senate president, but not to the Legislature as an institution, according to the opinion. The court concluded Payne’s claim for money damages is barred pursuant to section 2(b) of the ROA since it cannot sound in contract, and the government has not waived its sovereign immunity for any tort claim based on his expulsion.
With respect to the portion of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit not precluded by those immunity provisions, the court found the plaintiffs’ lawsuit nonjusticiable because the Legislature possesses the authority to impose an ethics code on its members as a condition to continuing to hold office and to enforce it through the power of expulsion, and the plaintiffs’ sole challenge to the Legislature’s actions can only be adjudicated by requiring the court to substitute its judgment for that of the 14 senators who voted to expel Payne from the Legislature, according to the opinion.
Despite the Legislature’s win in the Supreme Court, Francis noted a lot of the people’s money has gone toward defending the lawmaking body. He pointed out an ongoing civil lawsuit filed in Superior Court by one of Payne’s former staffers against the former two-term senator from St. John and the Legislature stemming from sexual harassment claims, as well as a complaint made to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that enforces all laws against discrimination in the workplace.
READ MORE: “Former-Sen. Payne staffer files civil lawsuit; includes Legislature, Sen. Frett-Gregory in suit”
“While this is another step in the proceedings based on the Supreme Court decision, we still have some ongoing matters that we’ll have to contend with,” he said, adding that he hopes the Legislature won’t find itself in this type of situation ever again. “This is precedent setting, and this opinion will be available again for future use if necessary.”
