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The Court of Appeal has overturned a 2023 High Court ruling and ordered the State to pay a retired Coast Guard volunteer $346,836.05 for unpaid salary adjustments linked to his post-retirement service.

Chief Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh and Justices of Appeal James Aboud and Ricky Rahim held that David Tannis was contractually entitled to revised rates of pay that were later negotiated for established Defence Force ranks, even though those increases were finalised after his volunteer service ended.

Rahim, who wrote the unanimous decision delivered on November 14, also ruled that an implied contractual term tied his remuneration to increases granted to comparable ranks in the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF), consistent with a Cabinet-approved methodology dating back to 1980.