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The High Court has ruled in favour of a Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) employee in a negligence claim against a heavy equipment operator and a businessman, over a 2020 work-site accident in Tobago.

Justice Frank Seepersad found Lance Roberts, a heavy equipment operator and Mohan Bissessar, trading as Singh’s Tyre and Hardware Supplies, liable for injuries Stephen Burnett sustained when a backhoe struck him and threw him into a trench at a WASA work site on Pigeon Point Road, Crown Point, on March 20, 2020. The judge gave an oral ruling on October 8.

Seepersad said that “on a balance of probabilities, Roberts would have remained in the backhoe and was the only person charged with the responsibility of operating the backhoe on that day.” He ruled that Roberts restarted the backhoe “suddenly and without warning,” causing the bucket arm to strike Burnett, who suffered head, shoulder, and leg injuries.