Tuesday, February 9, 2010

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Sorry seemed to be the hardest word By Scott Armstrong ~ Guardian Business Editor ~ scott@nasguard.com: A feud between two of the biggest names in Caribbean tourism has come to an end after one apologized to the other, it has emerged. Muna Issa, daughter of SuperClubs chairman John Issa, has complied with a Supreme Court order to apologize to Sandals Resorts International chairman Gordon 'Butch' Stewart for forwarding an e-mail, to journalist Owen James, that Stewart found grievously offensive. Muna Issa, who is treasurer of SuperClubs, which owns Breezes on Bay Street, a director of the Bank of Nova Scotia and a former president of Florida-based International Lifestyles Inc, admitted that the content of the e-mail was unfounded and had caused Stewart "embarrassment and distress". "On October 25, 2007, I sent a copy of a disparaging e-mail, which had not been created by me, to Mr Owen James (the journalist)... I recognize that the contents of the e-mail were unfounded and ... must have caused you embarrassment and distress," said Issa in her November 12, 2009 apology. "This was never my intention. I wish therefore to take this opportunity of apologizing for my action and to express my sincere regret for having re-sent the said e-mail," she wrote. The apology, which has just been released, came almost nine months after it was first ordered by Justice Roy Anderson. On March 9, 2009, the judge gave Issa nine days to March 18 to tell Stewart she was sorry. Instead, she appealed the ruling relating to the apology, while Stewart, who is also chairman of this newspaper, appealed the striking out of the suit. Since that time, Justice Anderson's decision to strike out the suit has been reversed by the Court of Appeal, giving Stewart the green light to proceed with his defamation suit against her. Stewart, who was also awarded costs of the appeal as well as in the proceedings involving Justice Anderson, has insisted that his reputation was too valuable to him to allow defamatory material to go unchallenged. Yesterday, Stewart's attorneys revealed that Muna Issa paid an undisclosed amount in damages to Stewart who will donate that sum, as well as the legal costs paid by her, to the Flanker community in Montego Bay. Friday January 29, 2010