NEW ORLEANS – A trackman alleges he was injured while working for the city of New Orleans.
Joe Foreman filed a complaint on Feb. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Public Belt Railroad Commission for the city of New Orleans alleging that the political subdivision failed to provide a reasonably safe place to work.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on May 2, 2016, he was in the course of performing his assigned tasks in the employ of defendant when suddenly and without warning, a truck he was sitting in began to travel down the rails, violently shifted position and derailed. In the process, plaintiff alleges he was thrown about the interior of the truck, striking his head on the ceiling, and has suffered severe and debilitating injuries to his head, neck, upper back, right shoulder and left knee, which required substantial medical treatment and surgery. The plaintiff holds Public Belt Railroad Commission for the City of New Orleans responsible because the defendant allegedly failed to properly set the hi-rail gang truck on the tracks, failed to provide a safe gang truck and failed to warn plaintiff of unsafe workplace conditions.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendant for all damages reasonable in the premises, plus interest, post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees, court costs and all general and equitable relief. He is represented by W. Chad Stelly, Blake G. Arata Jr. and C. Perrin Rome III of Rome, Arata, Baxley & Stelly LLC in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Case number 2:17-cv-01404