A Rio Claro construction company has been ordered to pay a former employee $350,000 in compensation for injuries the woman sustained to her knee when she stepped in a hole while carrying 25 pounds of cable through swampy lands.
Jurine Joseph, of St Mary’s Village, Moruga, was awarded the sum by Master Marissa Robertson after she was successful in her claim against the company, Balou Engineering, Construction & Maintenance Ltd. She was represented by attorney Robin Ramoutar.
Joseph, 37, who has suffered 34 per cent disability as a result of the injury was working with the company as a labourer on September 17, 2010, when the incident took place.
Joseph, along with other employees, were directed to manually transport cables through swampy lands covered in about two feet of water at Ackbar Trace, Avocat Road, Fyzabad where testing was being done for oil and gas. The cables were partially around her neck and torso and supported on her shoulder. The cables were an inch-thick and weighed about 25 pounds.
In her witness statement, she said, “As I continued walking along with the cables about me, my feet suddenly went down into a hole and I fell with the cables about me. I immediately felt something crack in my left leg and felt a severe shooting pain in my left leg. I cried out in pain and co-workers nearby came to my aid. They lifted me out of the hole and carried me to where the vehicles were located. I was then transported in the vehicle to base camp which was located at Forest Reserve. I was in excruciating pain all the way.”
She said a nurse put a bandage on her knee and she was then taken to the Gulf View Medical Centre where she was examined by a doctor and discharged. However, she eventually had to seek care at the San Fernando General Hospital after the pain persisted and was told she suffered injuries to the ligaments in her knee. Joseph said subsequently underwent physiotherapy and surgery. She said she was told by a specialist that she will develop osteoarthritis by the time she is 45 years old.
Joseph said she will also require knee replacement surgery which will cost approximately $155, 624.18 when she turns that age. She said since the incident she has been unable to work.
Joseph said she has also been on medication over the past six years to help her cope with the pain.