The Tribune

A MAN who was seriously injured on the job says his employer refuses to give him “justice” – but the man he named as his boss claims he was not in charge of the facility at the time of the incident.

Cinel Joseph, 32, says he has undergone thousands of dollars worth of surgery and requires more treatment after a heavy piece of steel landed on top of him, severely damaging his lower body and leaving him permanently disabled.

“Before the accident, I was a young man,” Mr Joseph said. “I used to played soccer. I can’t do nothing, now.”

Mr Joseph’s uncle, John Wayne, said the injury took place in September 2009 at a scrap metal yard in southern New Providence where Mr Joseph worked.

“A piece of steel, a big piece of chunk of steel, fell and crushed below his waist and his spinal and hip area and groin area,” Mr Wayne said. “They had to take a truck to lift a truck off this young man. That’s how heavy this steel was.”

Since then, Mr Joseph has been in and out of the hospital with five surgeries; and orthopaedic and spine surgery quotes provided by Mr Joseph show costs as high as $21,000.

Mr Munroe said he wants the scrap metal company Mr Joseph was working for at the time of the incident to cover the medical costs.

They also claimed Mr Joseph’s former employer acknowledged responsibility by providing some financial assistance.

They gave The Tribune a document they claimed was signed by the boss, Larry Burrows, promising to pay $12,500.

But, they said, this is not enough to cover the expenses.

When The Tribune contacted Mr Burrows, he insisted his company was not in charge of the scrap metal yard at the time of the incident.

“You had two companies,” he said. “You had a former company in the year before, which I worked under and he (Mr Joseph) worked under, called Oriental – a foreign company out of New York.

“We all work for Oriental, who had the contract from government.”

He said Mr Joseph and his family “are trying to sue the wrong company.” He said the family has tried to sue him before but after a lawyer investigated, the matter was “dropped.”

Mr Burrows said: “You can investigate through Environmental Health. Four years ago – because I have a five-year contract which only two and a half years I’ve done on it – everyone was freelancing and bringing iron from the back to the front, when he got hurt.

“It (the scrap metal yard) was never run by me, it was run by (another man). I want him to get his facts right because he tried to sue Manpower a year ago, and after we explained it to his lawyer, his lawyer investigated and dropped the case.”

Mr Burrows said as many as 600 persons bring in metal for his company, Manpower, but don’t work for the company.

“(Individuals) come out in the morning, jump on the truck, and go get iron. So you’re not working for nobody,” he said.

“He never worked with somebody. Nobody never paid National Insurance for him. Nobody pays National Insurance. Now if you work in the compound itself, we have coverage from National Insurance. But if you come and sell iron to me, you don’t have no coverage.”

He added: “The lawyer dropped his trying to sue me . . . You need to go do your investigation when he got hurt if manpower ever existed in Marshall Road. Manpower never existed in Marshall Road until two and a half years.”

Mr Burrows then hung up the phone before The Tribune could ask him about the authenticity of the document submitted by Mr Joseph.