A professional caterer is suing an Orleans Parish energy company, alleging negligence in his slip and fall aboard an oil rig.
William Noel III of Abbeville filed a lawsuit June 22 against Freeport-McMoran Oil & Gas of Baton Rouge in U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana, alleging negligence following a fall sustained inside a freezer.
According to the complaint, Noel, employed as a supervisor for Eurest Services Inc., was assigned to work on a production platform on the outer continental shelf off the Louisiana shore. The suit says that on April 11, when Noel was unloading groceries in a freezer aboard the rig, he slipped on the metal floor and incurred neck and back injuries, including a herniated disc.
The suit says Noel suffered physical pain, mental anguish, past and future loss of wages and earning capacity, and permanent impairment.
The plaintiff alleges Freeport-McMoran was negligent in its failure to warn him of hazardous conditions, install appropriate flooring, provide adequate safety measures, maintain the premises safely and correct an allegedly dangerous defect.
Noel seeks compensation, interest, attorney fees, expenses and court costs. He is represented by attorney John Young of New Orleans.
U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:15-cv-02411-MLCF-JCW.