A Terrebone Parish man is suing BP and several subcontractors and boats that were hired by the oil company to help in oil spill cleanup after he was injured when the boat he was on was crashed into by another vessel.
New Iberia attorney Brennan Stockstill filed the petition for damages on behalf of Darrell Lacox in Orleans Parish Civil District Court on June 8.
The suit names BP PLC, Twenty Grand Offshore Inc., Tidewater Marine LLC, the boats involved and their captains, and 11 other parties as defendants.
Both the ships had been hired by subcontractors to aid in the cleanup of the oil spill that resulted from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oilrig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, the suit states.
The suit seeks damages under the Federal Longshore and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act (LHWCA).
The plaintiff is seeking more than $50,000 in damages.
The accident allegedly occurred in June 2010. Lacox was traveling on a boat called The Mister Randy, owned by Twenty Grand Offshore, when it hit the back of a boat called the Macy Emily "traveling about 15 miles per hour."
The suit states Lacox was "standing at the back of the cabin" when he was "thrown into the cabin wall and felt pain in his left side."
"Mr. Lacox did not report the accident because he needed the work and did not want to loose[sic] his job," the suit states, but he did begin to see a chiropractor.
The suit claims the ships involved were negligent in failing to provide a safe environment for works, as well as failing to provide adequate crew training.
The suit claims the subcontractors that owned the vessels are liable for failing to provide a seaworthy vessel.
Orleans Parish Judge Madeleine Landrieu is overseeing this case.
Orleans Parish Case 2011-6033
Man suing BP after injury sustained in crash between boats aiding in oil spill cleanup
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