But after three weeks of on-the-job training, Alleyne said he was dismissed because of an incident that occurred about ten years ago when he was employed at one of Almond's other hotels.
The 44-year-old man is angry and disappointed that management held his past record against him and did not give him a second chance to prove himself.
Alleyne explained that he recently applied for a job at the hotel as a restaurant manager.
"I saw the advertisement in the newspaper and I applied for the job. I was interviewed over the telephone and then I went to orientation at Almond Beach Village for a couple of weeks and for the past three to four weeks I was in training at Casuarina and assisting in getting the hotel in operation."
However, he said two weeks ago he was summoned to a meeting by the director of operations and another manager.
"They told me they had reviewed my background and discovered that I had worked at the hotel before and that I was dismissed, so the hotel would not be in a position to rehire me again."
Alleyne said he was shocked.
"I told the director that he was the one who had dismissed me, and he said that when he saw me he did not remember me. I told him that back then I was not charged for any offence, but he told me that that was the hotel's policy."
Alleyne, who pointed out he has worked at several hotels in Barbados, Tortola, Trinidad and St Kitts, said the incident which led to his dismissal was an unfortunate one caused by his inexperience.
"I was given permission to escort a guest to a club and while we were at the club, I saw her walk off with a man. When she returned a few hours later I noticed that she had been smoking something and drinking. I did not ask her anything. I just took her back to the hotel."
He explained that the next day he was questioned by management about the female guest and her activities that night and subsequently dismissed.
Union approached
"The matter went to the union, but after a while I just gave up and moved on," he said.
Alleyne said he went on to undertake several courses, including bartending, bar and beverage management, supervisory management, computer programming and database management.
He said that he worked at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Tortola, The Cliff restaurant, Sandy Lane, and the Four Seasons hotel among others.
He produced various awards he received such as Hotel Employee Of The Year, Bartender Of The Year, Employee Of The Month on six occasions and a silver award for representing Barbados in the category of arts.
"I have worked in the industry for 28 years, and apart from that incident, I have an unblemished record. I do not believe that a man should be penalised for an incident. I was not charged for anything. I had to produce a certificate of character to Almond," an upset Alleyne pointed out. He added that during his training, he encountered several managers with whom he had worked during his first tenure there.
He said he was angry because the hotel should have carried out its background checks before he was even considered for the job.
"Why did they put me through all of this training? I was getting there early every morning and leaving around 8 o'clock at night helping them to get the hotel ready for opening. I was actually looking forward to working there and I was supposed to sign the contract the day after I was dismissed. This is not right!"
I spoke to Frank King, director of operations at Almond Casuarina, and he explained that the hotel's policy was not to rehire workers who had been dismissed.
He stated that Alleyne had only been in training for one to two weeks at the hotel.
"We did a background check and found out that he worked at Almond before and that he was dismissed. Regardless of the circumstances, we will not rehire anyone who was dismissed. That is as much as we are prepared to say on the matter," King stated.
Alleyne, however, said he would be seeking legal advice.
*****
Dumpers hit old Post:
IT SEEMS
And given the evidence, the culprits might be some vendors.
Recently when I drove through the area, I was appalled at the huge amount of garbage – old boxes, styrofoam plates, plastic bottles and paper – scattered inside the building.
This is definitely a health hazard, and those guilty of dumping in this building should be ashamed of themselves!
Ironically, when I spoke to Stanton Alleyne, general manager of the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA), yesterday, he said the matter was receiving the SSA's full attention and it had already made arrangements to have the building cleaned and sanitised on Sunday.
He explained this was not the first time the authority had cleaned out the building, which he pointed out was the responsibility of the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. (BTI).
However, on this occasion, he said the BTI had promised to have the entire building barricaded on Monday and this would mean that no one would be able to dump there any more.
But Alleyne said there was an ongoing problem of people dumping garbage in abandoned buildings across the island, and this was proving to be a headache for his department.