A longshoreman has filed a lawsuit against his employer after he was involved in a boat collision that resulted in his boat running aground and causing him to suffer injuries after he was thrown across the deck of the boat.
Claiming he was not provided a safe place to work, Alexis Flores filed suit against Employus and Louisiana International Marine on Nov. 8 in federal court in New Orleans.
While employed as a deckhand by Employus and assigned to a 30-foot aluminum workboat contracted for BP cleanup, Flores was injured when the boat collided with another vessel in Bayou LaFourche and was forced to run aground. Because of the collision, Flores was thrown across the deck of the 30-foot aluminum workboat and suffered severe, permanent and disabling injuries.
The other vessel was owned and operated by defendant Louisiana International Marine.
The defendants are accused of negligence for allegedly failing to provide a safe place to work, failing to operate their vessel in a reasonably safe manner, failing to comply with maritime rules and regulations related to safe navigation, failing to see what should have been seen, failing to initiate proper and appropriate signals and communication prior to impact, proceeding at an unsafe speed under the circumstances, failing to keep their vessel in a reasonably safe condition, failing to avoid the collision, and failing to execute a proper lookout.
The plaintiff is seeking more than $1.5 million in damages for medical expenses, physical pain and suffering, mental pain and suffering, lost wages and loss of earning capacity, attorney's fees, court costs, interest and maintenance and cure benefits.
Flores is represented by Evette E. Ungar, George W. Byrne, Jr. and Cheryl L. Wild of Ungar & Byrne in New Orleans and Cristian P. Silva of Cristian P. Silva Law Offices in Harvey.
U.S. District Judge Martin L. C. Feldman is assigned to the case.
Case No. 2:11-cv-02776
Longshoreman sues after boat collision forces workboat to run aground
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