A school counsellor who claimed he was wrongly suspended from the Bermuda Union of Teachers for speaking to the media is still seeking justice through the courts.

The Reverend Leonard Santucci, who was the BUT representative at the Berkeley Institute, launched a civil lawsuit against the union after he was ousted in October 2021 for publicly raising concerns about the actions of the executive committee.

The Royal Gazette understands that the Supreme Court case is continuing — though it has yet to come to trial — with the union having hired lawyer Kyle Masters, of Carey Olsen, to represent it.

Dr Santucci first raised his complaints with union president Nishanthi Bailey and later went public, alleging that the executive committee was making decisions without the consent of the general membership, such as removing former general secretary Mike Charles in June 2021.

He claimed bullying and sexual harassment policies were “implemented and updated” by the executive committee that were not ratified by the membership and asked why the BUT had not filed financial statements since 2016.

His remarks prompted union leaders to send out an internal memo referring to his actions as treasonous and he countered that they were conducting a smear campaign. He said his actions were “not personal, they are constitutional”.

Dr Santucci, the pastor at Vernon Temple AME Church in Southampton, was then suspended, with Mr Charles’s successor, Anthony Wolffe, telling him in a letter he could no longer run for union vice-president in an upcoming election.

Mr Wolffe wrote that Dr Santucci broke confidentiality by speaking to the media, bringing the union into public disrepute.

It is understood that Dr Santucci, represented by lawyer Vaughan Caines, seeks in his lawsuit to have the union’s decision overturned on the basis that none of his actions, including speaking to the media, breached the union’s constitution.

The lawsuit argues that it was the executive committee that acted unconstitutionally in suspending him and therefore barring him from standing for election in autumn 2021.

In addition to the lawsuit brought by Dr Santucci, the union has been racking up legal bills in its row with the Ministry of Education over Ms Bailey’s secondment as full-time president and her termination as a teacher at Dellwood Middle School.

Ms Bailey was formally reinstated just last month after winning an appeal last June made by the union to a labour tribunal.

The BUT is due to have its next election this autumn, when Ms Bailey is expected to run for president again.

The union and Dr Santucci declined to comment for this report.