Some 11,750 Maltese people, wearing colours to form the world’s biggest human rainbow in 2003, were quickly forgotten within a year when the Philippines organised a similar event with three times the number of people.
But for Anthony Attard, the rainbow he helped organise will remain a cloudy thunderstorm in his memory for as long as he is held responsible to pay for the services contracted by the company that employed him.
The 26-year-old cultural manager has been found liable by a court to pay Sign It Ltd the staggering total of €9,265 (Lm3,977.47) for the tents, platforms and other services given to a company in which he was neither a shareholder nor a director.
The net effect is that his salary is ending up in court and all his assets have been frozen.
Attard was then employed by Wearwords Ltd as logistics officer to manage the thousands of Maltese who gathered on the Floriana granaries, including then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami and former Labour leader Alfred Sant.
Even though the company – liquidated since the event – was owned by Marie Ella St John, and James Vella was listed as company secretary on the financial services authority records, Sign It still sued Attard for the outstanding debts.
Attard was in fact sued back in December 2003 to pay for the services on the grounds that he had carried out the contacts on behalf of the defaulting company.
In his defence, Attard argued that he had never acted personally in the matter but always on behalf of the company employing him.
The court, presided over by Magistrate Michael Mallia, acknowledged the fact that Attard was never legally representing Wearwords Ltd as he neither had shares in it, nor was he a director or legal representative.
But the court said it had to establish if he was still personally responsible for the credit claimed by Sign It.
Represented by lawyer Richard Sladden, Reuben Caruana of Sign It admitted in court that a cheque deposit he had received and cashed for his company’s services was sent through Wearwords Ltd, but claimed that he only got to know about the limited liability company a day before the event.
Claiming that Attard had never referred to a limited liability company in their dealings, Caruana said in court that faxes sent to him with the company’s details had the writing “in small print” making it impossible for him to realise.
An accounts clerk working for Sign It – Roberta Bonnici – also told court that initial invoices were issued to Anthony Attard, but she was instructed to issue new invoices to Wearwords Ltd soon after by Caruana himself.
A director of Wearwords Ltd, Marie Ella St John, told the court that her company had gone bankrupt and could not pay the debts. Yet she said she had introduced herself to Caruana as company director upon meeting him. She had also spoken to Caruana telling him Attard could not be held responsible for the debts; it was her company that was responsible, yet Caruana did not accept her argument.
Yet the court ruled that Sign It had no way of knowing it was dealing with another company until a day before the event.
“In this case, therefore, the presumption is that the convened (Attard) was contracting in his own name and not in someone else’s name,” Magistrate Mallia said, citing case law stating that one had to assume the contracting person was doing so in his own name.
The court concluded that Sign It had every right to assume that Attard was contracting services on his behalf, hence he had to pay the company’s debts amounting to €9,265 as well as all legal fees.
Attard said he was appealing the case.

kschembri@mediatoday.com.mt