SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

This Just In

Recent civil filings in Jefferson County District Courts, May 1-9

May 1
Patricia Harris vs. Family Dollar Store
PA -- Woodsen E. Dryden, J � Alfred Gerson
Patricia Harris has extracted the term "water hazard" from the realm of golf and applied it to dollar store welcome mats. Harris, seeking to escape the rain, ventured into the Port Arthur Family Dollar Store and slipped on the store's mat.
Case No. 108-146

May 2
Lula Delafosse vs. A.O. Smith Corp., et al
PA -- Bryan Blevins, J � Donald Floyd
Provost Umphrey has found another smoker to sue the A.O. Smith Corp., along with 42 other major corporations, for distributing products containing asbestos throughout Jefferson County. This is the fith case of its kind in the last two months.
Case No. E179-226

Stephen Dinneen et al vs. U.S. Rare Coin & Bullion et al
PA -- Jason Gibson, J -- Donald Floyd
Dineen and other plaintiffs allege that U.S. Rare Coin, affliated companies and employees committed fraud by convincing them to buy coins and bullion as an investment. The plaintiffs say the company used high pressure sales tactics to defraud elderly customers. Collectively the plaintiffs invested more than $400,000 in coins and products from the defendants, which did not have the value that the defendants represented. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory, treble and exemplary damages.
Case No. E179-220

May 3
Corey Stone filed vs. PD Glycol and United Scaffolding
PA -- Clay Dugas, J � court assignment is pending
Corey Stone has filed a personal injury lawsuit against PD Glycol and United Scaffolding. The suit says Stone was walking on the scaffold to remove a chainfall, when an untied board, "kicked up, causing him to fall on a valve and injure his back."
Case No. A179-237

Ernestine Moore vs. Southeast Texas Homecare, Inc.
PA -- Deanne Hodge, J � pending
A nasty tumble down a staircase has led Horace and Ernestine Moore to sue Southeast Texas Homecare, Inc. Horace claims the healthcare provider and its owner/employees, Harold Martin, along with Stacie and Martin Fontenot, should have restrained and better supervised him.
Case No. B179-240

Mary Kelly vs. Casa Ole et al
PA -- Dallas Barrington, J -- pending
Mary Kelly, a disabled Beaumont woman, was entering a Casa Ole Mexican restaurant when she fell after stepping from the handicap ramp onto the sidewalk. The personal injury suit claims Casa Ole was negligent for not properly providing for the safety of the disabled.
Case No. D179-239

May 4
Christopher Burnette vs. Afton Chemical Additives Corp.
PA � Steven C. Barkley, J � Donald Floyd
Pinned between a scaffold and the flare line he was told to demolish, a Port Neches man had no choice but to swallow his circumstance and the hazardous chemicals that sprayed from the ruptured line. Christopher Burnette is suing the Afton Chemical Additives Corp. and Huntsman Petrochemical Corp. for giving him a green light to demolish the supposed empty line when in fact it was still chocked full of lingering chemicals.
Case No. E179-245

Terry Thomas vs. Rental Service Corp.
PA � Clay Dugas, J � Court assignment is pending
A welding machine allegedly improperly placed on a trailer tipped over and fractured Terry Thomas' foot. He is suing the Rental Service Corp.
Case No. A179-247

Jose Bazaldua vs. Sulzer Chemtech USA, Inc.
A Beaumont resident injured while working at a chemical facility in Anacortes, WA has hired the Provost Umphrey Law Firm to extract compensation for his medical expenses. Jose Bazaldua hurt himself during the scope of his employment with Sulzer Chemtech USA, Inc. on Nov. 16, 2006.
Case No. B179-242

Hall vs. Memorial Hermann Baptist Hospital
PA � Brian Sutton, J � Donald Floyd
A man donning phony scrubs, posing as a physician, slipped into a female patient's room and sexually assaulted her. The woman, a minor at the time of the incident, is suing the Memorial Hermann Baptist Hospital and its nurses for granting John Diagre access to her room and for not notifying the authorities once a nurse witnessed the rape.
Case No. E-179-248

James Smart vs. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co.
PA � Steve Young, J � Court assignment is pending
Smart injured his knee while attempting to get off a locomotive. He is invoking the Federal Employers' Liability Act.
Case No. D179-244

May 7
Letresa Shaw vs. Beaumont Independent School District
PA � Brian Sutton, J � Donald Floyd
A fender-bender involving a Beaumont Independent School District bus has one boy's mother up in arms and ready to take on the school district. Letresa Shaw, individually, and as next friend of Edward Berry is suing BISD, Alice Nobles Williams (the bus driver) and Inetha Foster (the other motorist).
Case No. E179-268

Bessie Mae Larkin vs. A.O. Smith Corp., et al
PA -- Bryan Blevins of Provost Umphrey, J � Bob Wortham
While he was alive, Carl Larkin sued a petrochemical plant and received a claim for his "non-malignant asbestos-related disease." Now deceased, his wife is suing on Larkin's behalf for a "different malignant asbestos-related disease." Attorney Bryan Blevins of Provost Umphrey will represent Bessie Mae Larkin, the executrix of the estate of Carl Larkin, and sue the A.O. Smith Corp., along with 42 other major corporations, for distributing products containing asbestos throughout Jefferson County.
This is the sixth case of its kind in the last two months.
Case No. A179-266

Michele Clements vs. Christus Health Southeast Texas et al
PA -- Chad Matthews, J -- Milton Shuffield
Michele Clements was an employee of Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth and says she was injured on June 25, 2006, while attempting to move patients. Her specific injuries were not described, but she is seeking damages for pain, mental anguish, loss of earnings, impairment and medical bills.
Case No. D179-257

Jayson Roche vs. M&D Supply Inc.
PA -- David Dies, J -- Milton Shuffield
In March 2006, plaintiff's wife rented a nail gun from M&D Supply so the couple could make home repairs. While holding the nail gun, plaintiff says the gun misfired, driving a nail into his knee. The defendant is negligent, plaintiff says, for not properly maintaining the nail gun and not properly instructing customers on the use of the nail gun.
Case No. D179-256

May 8
ICI Construction vs. Sabine Pass Independent School District
PA -- James Old, Jr, J � Milton Shuffield
Nearly two years after the renovation of the Sabine Pass Athletic Complex, ICI Construction is claiming that it still hasn't received full payment of $1.8 million the school district owes for the gym's restoration.
Case No. D179-270

May 9
LC Berry et al vs. Christus Hosptial et al
PA -- Richard Mithoff, J -- Milton Shuffield
The suit says on Jan. 12, 2007, the minor son of plaintiffs' Berry was under the care of the defendants during the course of such care and treatment hospital personnel failed to properly diagnosis and treat Berry. The suit does not explain Berry's condition or how the minor was misdiagnosed. As a result of the occurrence, Berry sustained significant and permanent injuries and will require nursing care, custodial care, therapy, medical care and hospital care...for the rest of his life, the suit says.
Case No. D179-279