"In a rare move, a migrant worker sued his bosses in Singapore. And won", 27 August 2023

A manual laborer from India has successfully sued his employers in Singapore for negligence after he fell off the back of an overcrowded lorry, in a rare legal win for migrant workers that has renewed debate about their treatment in the wealthy city state.

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[Ramalingam] Murugan’s accident occurred on January 3, 2021.

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In 2022, he launched a lawsuit against Rigel Marine Services, seeking 100,000 Singapore dollars ($73,500) in damages.

He argued the company failed to institute or enforce a safe system of transport for himself and other workers and did not carry out risk assessments to identify potential hazards.

Representatives for Rigel Marine Services denied the claims and said Murugan’s accident was “caused by his own carelessness in failing to watch his footing before alighting from the lorry.” The company also counter-claimed for the medical expenses and medical leave wages that had been paid to and for Murugan.

But on August 17, District Judge Tan May Tee ruled in favor of Murugan, saying that there had clearly been “a breach of duty by the company.”

“Without proper supervision and the maintenance of some order or discipline in alighting, the plaintiff had been pushed by his coworkers, which resulted in him losing his balance and falling,” Tan said.

She added that she found no contributory negligence on Murugan’s part and said there had been no way for him to avoid the accident as the vehicle was “not meant to carry more than 22 persons at the time.”

“I therefore find that there was no proper and safe system in place for the safe access and or egress from the deck of the lorry at the material time,” Tan said.

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CNN reached out to Rigel Marine Services for comment. Lawyers said the company had no further comment following legal proceedings.