A diving company is suing an employee over claims of concealing a pre-existing medical condition.
Blackwater Diving LLC filed a lawsuit Oct. 6 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Gary L. Taylor, alleging that he had concealed pre-existing medical conditions from them.
According to the claim, Taylor was hired by Blackwater Diving on April 8, 2014. During service with them on marine vessel Black Diver II as an engineer, he claims to have sustained an injury to his neck on Aug. 22. Upon investigating the injury claim, they discovered he may have a concealed pre-existing condition affecting his upper cervical spine/neck. This condition would have prevented the company from ever hiring him to do this job, the claim states.
Blackwater allegedly attempted to access Taylor’s medical records during their investigation to ascertain the condition and its relevance to the claimed injury, but Taylor was uncooperative, making it difficult to determine the extent of damages, if any, are owed to him.
Blackwater is seeking declaratory judgment in respects to any damages owed to Taylor, if any at all, Taylor’s employment status, whether the injury occurred while on duty, and relevant medical information about the supposed pre-existing condition. They are also seeking any additional relief deemed appropriate by the court. They are represented by attorneys Ralph E. Kraft and Bryan E. Lege of Lafayette.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:15-cv-05010-EEF-MBN