NEW ORLEANS – A captain alleges he was injured while painting because of a ship's uneven steel deck.
Heath James Colletti filed a complaint on Jan. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Premier Tugs LLC alleging that the vessel owner failed to provide a seaworthy vessel.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that in Dec. 12, 2015, he was working as a captain aboard defendant's M/V Mr. Landon when he sustained severe, painful and permanently disabling injuries while attempting to paint the vessel's engine room stairwell. As a result, he alleges he has suffered physical and mental pain, disability and loss of earning capacity. The plaintiff holds Premier Tugs LLC responsible because the defendant allegedly negligently created an unreasonably dangerous workplace aboard the vessel because of an uneven deck.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks compensatory damages in an amount reasonable under the circumstances, plus costs and interest and for any additional general and equitable relief. He is represented by Stanley J. Jacobs and Jodi J. Aamodt of Jacobs, Manuel, Kain & Aamodt in New Orleans and Paul M. Sterbcow and Ian F. Taylor of Lewis, Kullman, Sterbcow & Abramson in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Case number 2:17-cv-00458