GALVESTON - A recent blast on a waterway near New Orleans has resulted in a lawsuit.
Louisiana resident Leroy Gilling Jr. is suing his employer Settoon and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. in the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas, claiming the entities were responsible for the event on Mar. 12 which reportedly injured him.
Recent court documents filed Mar. 21 show Gilling worked as a tankerman aboard the Shanon E. Settoon.
The vessel was under way in the Bayou Perot Oil and Gas Field in Barataria, La., when the plaintiff "was caused to be thrown" over, the suit says.
According to the original petition, the subject incident occurred just as the captain ran the ship into a pipeline belonging to Chevron.
Gilling adds he sustained "serious and debilitating" injuries.
Settoon is blamed for:
- Failing to maintain the vessel and its equipment in a safe and reasonable state of repair;
- Failing to take reasonable precautions for the plaintiff's safety;
- Failing to provide employees with a reasonably safe place to work;
- Failing to warn Gilling of known or existing hazards; and
- Failing to properly navigate the vessel.
Meanwhile, the suit asserts that Chevron is negligent in the maintenance and burial of the pipeline.
A jury trial is requested.
Attorney Francis I. Spagnoletti of Spagnoletti & Co. in Houston is representing Gilling.
Case No. 3:13-CV-0080