LAFAYETTE — A painter has filed suit against a company for allegedly failing to ensure a safe workplace after he fell off a hybrid platform and sustained serious injuries.
John Himel filed a complaint Sept. 13 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette/Opelousas Division, against Trunkline Gas Co. LLC, alleging that the company failed to provide a safe working environment.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on Sept. 15, 2015, he was an employee of L&L Sandblasting Inc., working on a hybrid platform owned by defendant Trunkline Gas Company LLC when he fell off of a ledge in an unguarded area, violently smashing his head on the deck. The incident caused him to sustain bodily injuries that resulted in pain and agony, mental anguish, lost of earning capacity and loss of service. The plaintiff holds Trunkline Gas Co. LLC responsible because the defendant allegedly negligently caused and allowed the dangerous conditions to exist, failed to eliminate hazardous working conditions and failed to provide a sufficient number of properly trained crew members.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against the defendant in the amount $10,500,000, plus interest, all costs of the proceedings and all other equitable and just relief. He is represented by P. Craig Morrow, Jr. and Richard T. Haik, Sr. of Morrow, Morrow, Ryan, Bassett & Haik in Opelousas and John H. Smith of Smith Shanklin Sosa LLC in Baton Rouge.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette/Opelousas Division, Case number 6:16-cv-01283