Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) is confronting substantial financial repercussions following a groundbreaking judicial decision by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Company Chairman Markhelm Lizarraga disclosed during a recent press briefing that the telecommunications provider anticipates disbursing between $11 million and $15 million in severance payments to former employees.
The financial obligation stems from a CCJ ruling delivered in 2025 that resolved a protracted legal dispute between BTL and retired workers. The controversy centered on the company’s longstanding practice of considering pension benefits as replacement for severance pay, a position supported by collective bargaining agreements and internal pension structures.
Former employees successfully challenged this interpretation, arguing that it contravened Belize’s Labour Act. The litigation progressed through multiple judicial tiers, culminating in the CCJ’s definitive judgment that severance constitutes an irreducible statutory entitlement that cannot be superseded by pension arrangements unless explicitly accounted for.
Lizarraga characterized the financial impact as an “unforeseen event” that the company is actively “honoring.” He emphasized BTL’s commitment to complying with the judicial mandate, stating: “For those that we have been informed are legally qualified to receive it, we will be dispersing; we’re going to be following the law.
Bernard Pitts Jr., a former BTL employee involved in the case, clarified that the litigation transcended monetary considerations. “The law is very clear on what severance is, and it is different from what a pension is,” Pitts explained. “The issue really stemmed from when the CBA was amended to have the severance subsumed by the pension. That is not correct. And that was one of the things we were fighting for.”
The ruling affects hundreds of former workers and represents the culmination of years of judicial proceedings, establishing significant precedent regarding labor rights in the Caribbean region.