Earl and Marcia Edwards.
The family of a Jamaican man who died on the job from COVID-19 could sue the United States operators of Gebbers Farm in the wake of a US$2-million fine for “egregious” breaches of coronavirus safety regulations.
Earl Edwards, a 63-year-old who hailed from Crooked River in Clarendon, collapsed at the Washington state farm and died from COVID-19 on July 31. A Mexican farm worker also succumbed to the coronavirus weeks earlier.
Edwards’ widow, Marcia, confirmed to
The Gleaner that she was aware of the developments, but declined to comment on whether she would be taking court action.
Arthur Williams | Retain constitutional provisions for senator appointment jamaica-gleaner.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jamaica-gleaner.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dr Lloyd Barnett, correctly referred to in a recent Gleaner editorial as “a lawyer and constitutional scholar”, has impactfully alerted us in an article in the Sunday Gleaner to the longstanding reality that: “An important factor that must be taken into account is that the experience of many countries is that it is very difficult to obtain a majority vote of the electorate for constitutional changes, especially if a major political party is opposed to the change. It is also the experience that, where non-controversial as well as controversial issues are put to the electorate (for example, in a referendum), there is likely to be a generally negative vote so that the non-controversial matters suffer as a result.”
With the recent retirement of Justice C. Dennis Morrison OJ, CD, QC, as president of the Court of Appeal, another distinguished judge, Justice Patrick Brooks, whose judgments are reliably hailed as “impressive” and “full and careful”, has been appointed to succeed him.
I wish to acknowledge the singular contribution made by Justice Morrison as one of the Caribbean’s most respected and eminent jurists. He was one of the region’s best civil litigators before joining the Bench. He is one of the longest-serving and most beloved legal educators, and many of us owe some of who we are today, professionally, to his encouragement, guidance, compassion, and wonderful example.