SANITATION worker Malaku Kent went back to his job at the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) on Tuesday, in keeping with an agreement by the authority.

Kent had challenged the THRA’s failure to give reasons why he was not being allowed to return to workas a sanitation and maintenance worker after he was imprisoned for a drug conviction in 2019.

He filed for judicial review and was granted permission to pursue his claim against the TRHA, which initially resisted, asking for the grant of leave to be set aside.

The matter was expected to go to trial on July 4, but Kent and the TRHA reached a settlement on his reinstatement, which went into effect on Tuesday.

A consent order was presented to Justice Margaret Mohammed, who approved it last week.

Kent, of Gardenside Street, joined the TRHA in 2012. He went on vacation in 2019 but was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine on January 18. He was remanded in prison for four months, pleaded guilty on May 27 at the magistrates’ court and was fined $13,000.

He returned to work on May 28 and told his supervisor he had been in prison from January 18, when he was arrested, to May 27, when he pleaded guilty. He also provided a letter from the prison to substantiate his claim he was at the Tobago prison.

In his lawsuit, Kent said he tried getting answers from the TRHA after he was told to stay away from work until the human resource department contacted him.

After receiving no response, Kent filed the claim against the authority for failing and refusing to reinstate him.

The TRHA was represented by attorney Lennox Phillips Jr. Martin George represented Kent.

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