Cyclist Quincy Alexander is making good on his promise to take legal action against the Racing Committee of the T&T Cycling Federation for unfair treatment dished out to him by national coach Erin Hartwell, which led to him being excluded from the national teams for the UCI World Cups, and the World Championship currently taking place in Poland.
In a pre-action protocol letter to racing secretary Rowena Williams and copied to Jackie Corbin, secretary of the cycling federation on Tuesday, Attorneys representing Alexander, Matthew G. W. Gayle of New City Chambers, stated: "Our client has been the subject of unfair treatment which is reflected in his non-selection for World Cups and World Championships, notwithstanding his ability to clock better times than the riders who are selected."
Due to the treatment, Alexander's earning potential was severely affected as it materially reduces his international exposure and decreases the incidents of sponsorship and other financial opportunities.
The claim was one of 15 points that highlighted the unfair treatment received by Alexander by the attorneys, which gave the racing secretary a day, (Wednesday 27, 2019) to respond or face legal proceedings.
Efforts to reach racing committee chairman Joseph Roberts for a comment proved futile, and it is unsure whether the committee replied to the letter yesterday.
Gayle, who has been joined by attorneys Dr. Emir Crowne and Crystal Paul, also sought to dismiss claims by Hartwell in a report that Alexander's inability to secure a place on the team was due to absence or late attendance, particularly when evaluation was being conducted, saying: "contrary to the suggestion that our client understands is being promulgated by team coach Erin Hartwell, our client attends all possible training sessions, and diligently adheres to his training regime."
They added: "The most recent objective time results from the UCI event in Phoenix, United States in June of last year shows that our client is consistently within the top four riders. Despite consistently being in the top four riders for T&T, our client was not selected to be part of the team, even one of six National Championships of 2018. He was subsequently informed that it was as a result of failure to participate in at least one National Championships, he was deemed ineligible to be selected for the upcoming championships."
Only last year, Alexander earned a place on the T&T team for the Pan Am Championships, only when a pre-action protocol letter was sent to the cycling federation.
According to the Attorneys: "The committee wholly or in part fetters its discretion in selection by deferring to Mr Hartwell in the selection. In any event, our client is of the view that the committee places improper weight on Mr Hartwell's advice and wholly fails in its duty to interrogate his rationale. Hartwell's recommendations are made without reference to properly recorded track times, and/or without reference to any objectively reliable recorded track times."
"Our client understands that Mr Hartwell has adopted a pooling system, which improperly offers an advantage in selection to riders of his preference."