A St. Tammany Parish seaman is suing the owners of an operational derrick barge alleging injuries suffered when asked to perform a normally two-man job by himself.
Charles Armstrong III filed a lawsuit Sept. 1 in U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana against Offshore Specialty Fabricators and the vessel William Kallop, alleging negligence.
According to the complaint, on May 6 Armstrong was stretching out a fuel hose and was injured when the hose twisted and whipped around his hand, causing him to drop it. This inflicted serious injuries to his entire body, the suit says.
The suit states Armstrong signed a document declaring the injury was nothing more than a pulled muscle but as time went on, the injury, which included his shoulder, regressed causing him more pain.
Armstrong seeks compensation for permanent disability to his musculature, ligaments and bones of the body as well as past, present and future physical pain; suffering and loss of the function of his hand; plus legal costs. He is represented by attorneys Louis R. Koerner of Koerner Law Firm and Adam S. Lambert,both of New Orleans.
U.S District Court Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:15-cv-04027-JTM-JCW.