By Tracy Breton
PROVIDENCE, RI -- The state Supreme Court has upheld a $59,239 jury verdict against the City of Providence in a negligence case brought by Elizabeth Morel, who sued for personal injuries she suffered when the school bus she was driving fell into a sinkhole on a city roadway.
The accident happened on April 5, 2006 when the front wheels of the bus Morel was operating on Fairview Street fell into a trench.
Evidence was presented at trial that employees of the Providence Water Supply Board had installed a temporary patch in the road after completing a work order on pipes that ran underneath the area; "however," the court said, "the trench had 'washed out' due to a heavy rainfall, causing the patch to fail."