NEW ORLEANS – A crewman says the marine vessel Sally Bromfield’s owners are liable for injuries he suffered to his leg while following captain’s orders.
Brian Thompson filed a lawsuit Dec. 3 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Ingram Barge Co., alleging violations of the Jones Act, a 1920 law governing sailors’ compensation.
According to the complaint, Thompson worked aboard the Sally Bromfield, a ship owned by Ingram, where he earned $158 per day as a seaman. During a March 23 voyage aboard the vessel, in which 28 barges were being pushed southbound on the lower Mississippi River, the suit says Thompson fell between two barges while following the captain’s orders to break tow.
He allegedly sustained severe, permanently disabling injuries to his left tibia, fibula, ankle joint, and connective tissues and nerves, the complaint states. The plaintiff blames the ship owner’s negligence, as well as the vessel’s unseaworthy condition, for his injuries.
Thompson seeks compensatory damages for his injuries, as well as interest and other punitive damages allowed by law. He is represented by attorneys Paul M. Sterbcow and Jessica Ibert of Lewis, Kullman, Sterbcow & Abramson in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Case number 2:15-cv-06467