A 42-year-old former employee of the Kiss Baking Company has received $600,000 in compensation for a debilitating back injury he sustained five years ago.
The company agreed to the settlement yesterday as the trial of the lawsuit brought against it by former employee Parass Poon, of Mon Plasir Road, Cunupia, was set to begin before Justice Frank Seepersad in the Port-of-Spain High Court.
The compensation package took into account general damages for his injury, the cost of his future medical care and his loss of earnings, as he could no longer work since being injured. The company was also ordered to pay Poon’s legal costs for initiating the lawsuit.
In his lawsuit, Poon, a former machine operator, had alleged that the company was negligent in failing to anticipate the risks and hazards associated with his job and in implementing a safety system to minimise injuries.
Poon had claimed that he sustained the injury to his lower back because he was required to lift plastic and cardboard packaging bundles, weighing between 50 and 80 pounds, for approximately eight hours a day.
He also claimed he was required to stand continously for his entire shift.
Poon, in his statement, claimed he had complained of lower back pain to his supervisor for several months before he was forced to leave the job in November 2010 when the pain became too excruciating for him to continue to perform his duties.
Poon underwent treatment for his lumbar lordosis for over a year before he was declared medically unfit to work. Before settlement the company had denied Poon’s allegations over its negligence as it claimed he had sustained the injury while working in a second job as a mason.
Poon was represented by Chris Seelochan while Kerwyn Garcia and Marcelle Ferdinand appeared for the company.