This Just In

Aug. 9

-Marcus Parker vs. Tubal-Cain Marine Services Inc. et al
PA � Kurt Arnold, J � Bob Wortham
While employed as a marine electrician, Marcus Parker suffered an electrical shock on the deck of a barge and is suing his employer and the ship's owner for his injuries.
Parker filed the suit against Tubal-Cain Marine Service Inc. and HMC Leasing Co. on Aug. 9 in Jefferson County District Court.
According to the plaintiff's original petition, on April 23, 2007, Parker was working as an electrician on the MWB403, a barge owned by HMC and operated by defendants.
"While the barge was docked in Jefferson County, plaintiff was working on an aluminum extension ladder and nearly died when he was electrocuted and plummeted to the deck of the barge," the suit says. "As a result of defendants' negligence, plaintiff severely injured his head, lungs, back, neck and other parts of his body."
Parker is seeking damages for pain and physical impairment, mental anguish, loss of earnings, loss of earning capacity and medical expenses.
Case No. A179-775

-Jerry Lowe vs. Southeast Texas Sports Inc. et al
PA � Adam Terrell, J -- Donald Floyd
After a shootout on Interstate 10, a Beaumont police officer is suing the gun dealer that made the weapon available to the suspect.
Officer Jerry Lowe filed the suit against South East Texas Sports Inc. and E.G. Cordts Jr. individually and doing business as Southeast Texas Sports and Shooters Supply on Aug. 9 in Jefferson County District Court.
On Aug. 24, 2005, Lowe was conducting an interdiction, which is a law enforcement activity aimed at preventing the entry of drugs or other illegal items from entering a jurisdiction, at I-10 and Smith Road.
"A shootout occurred between law enforcement officers and James Thomas Hughes," the original plaintiff's petition states. "James Thomas Hughes was firing a weapon he obtained from defendants."
The plaintiff alleges that Hughes had a history of violent behavior, including an arrest for firing a gun at his workplace in 2004. Because of his background, Hughes was disqualified from selling weapons, but was employed where he had access to guns.
Lowe is seeking damages for past and future medical expenses, pain and suffering, mental anguish and physical impairment and exemplary damages.
Case No. E179-786

Zettie Andrus vs. Syed Zaheer M.D. et al
PA � Trent Bond, J � Gary Sanderson
After being turned away from an Orange hospital, Mack Ivory White died of cardiac arrest later at a Galveston facility. White's mother claims the negligence of the doctors and staff in Orange were the cause of her son's death.
Zettie Andrus, as wrongful death beneficiary of Mack Ivory White, filed a lawsuit against Dr. Syed Zaheer, Dr. James Grossman and Memorial Hermann Baptist Orange Hospital in Jefferson County District Court on Aug. 9.
"Plaintiff seeks to recover survival damages for the pain and suffering and mental anguish suffered by plaintiff as a result of the negligence and mistreatment alleged in this petition," the suit states. "Plaintiff also sues for the conscious pain and suffering and mental anguish experienced by the plaintiff in the days immediately preceding Mr. White's death; medical expenses and funeral, burial and other death-related expenses."
The plaintiff also seeks to recover wrongful death damages, past and future mental anguish, past and future pecuniary loss including loss of care and loss of inheritance.
Case No. 179-788

-Shirley Poullard vs. James Scott Holiday
PA � Brian Sutton, J � Gary Sanderson
After being asked by her employer to retrieve an item from her employer's attic, Shirley Poullard says she fell through the ceiling and was left with serious injuries.
Poullard filed a personal injury lawsuit against her employer James Scott Holiday in Jefferson County District Court on Aug. 9.
The plaintiff alleges that the incident was due to Holiday's negligence for allowing the premises to be left in an unreasonably dangerous condition, failing to correct the dangerous condition, failing to warn, protect and safeguard the plaintiff from the dangerous condition.
Case No. B179-789

Aug. 10

-Donato Perez vs. King Fisher Marine Service
PA - John Stevenson, J - Milton Shuffield
Donato Perez claims he was "permanently injured" while working on a vessel owned by King Fisher Marine Service. He is invoking the Jones Act and suing his employer. According to the plaintiff's original petition, Donato was deployed on an "un-seaworthy" vessel in navigable waters near Jefferson County on July 26, 2007, when he was injured. The suit does not describe how Donato injured himself or what he was doing when was injured.
Case No. D179-793

-Joan Eulian vs. Tekoa Charter School Inc.
PA - Jesse Funchess, J - Milton Shuffield
Joan Eulian is suing a Port Arthur elementary/middle school for $100,000. She claims she was injured while on the school's premise. The plaintiff's petition does not state when or how Eulian's alleged injury occurred. The suit does not even state how she was injured. The suit only says, "Defendant committed acts of omission and commission which collectively and severally constituted negligence, which negligence was a proximate cause of the injuries and bodily injuries suffered by plaintiff."
Case No. D179-804

Aug. 13

-Gregory and Kellie McFarland vs. BP Amoco Corp. et al
PA - Justin Shrader, J � Gary Sanderson
Sooner Nation has never cared too much for Texas football, but at least two Oklahoma residents are fans of the Lone Star State's court system. Gregory and Kellie McFarland are suing the BP Amoco Corp., along with 38 other oil companies, for manufacturing and distributing benzene and other toxic chemicals to the unaware public � conspiring to purposely inflict Gregory with an "illness." The couple is seeking punitive damages.
Case No. B179-807

-Bobby and Nellye Hall vs. Arco of the Panhandle Inc. et al
PA - Justin Shrader, J � Bob Wortham
Arizona residents Bobby and Nellye Hall are suing Arco of the Panhandle Inc., along with 19 other petrochemical companies, for manufacturing and distributing benzene and other toxic chemicals to the unaware public and for conspiring inflict Bobby with an "illness," most likely leukemia. The couple is seeking punitive damages as a means to punish the defendants.
Case No. A179-808

-Warren Strother et al vs. Dr. Felix Spiegel
PA � Scott Browne, J � Bob Wortham
A Louisiana couple is suing a Port Neches doctor for ignoring their minor child. The couple claims they brought their obese daughter in for follow-up treatment on "numerous" occasions after her "lap band" surgery, but the doctor never took the time to personally evaluate the young girl. Warren and Melissa Strother allege their daughter "developed pancreatitis," due "to the lack of appropriate care by Dr. Felix Spiegel."
Case No. A179-811

-Robert Bowden vs. Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital et al
PA � Trent Bond, J � Gary Sanderson
Zora Bowden was struck by a car backing out of a grocery store parking lot. She was admitted to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital, where she died a few days later from blood collecting on the surface of her brain (subdural hematoma). Zora's beneficiary, Robert Bowden, claims that if Doctors Kenneth Wilgers and Kandasami Senthilkumar, Zora's attending physicians, had not waited so long to perform a CT scan on her, Zora would still would be alive today. He filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital and its physicians.
Case No. B179-812

Aug. 14

-Jerry Jackson et al vs. the City of Port Arthur et al
PA � Steven Barkley, J � Donald Floyd
Shortly after Hurricane Rita, a Port Arthur mother and daughter were driving when a man traveling through an intersection struck them. The pair claim the collision was the result of "defective" stop signs that were put up temporally in place of the regular signs, which were ripped away by the hurricane. Jerry Jackson and Theresa Glenn filed a $100,000 plus personal-injury lawsuit against the City of Port Arthur and the Texas Department of Transportation.
Case No. E179-815

-Jeffery Roebuck vs. Ford Motor Co.
PA � Brett Thomas, J � Gary Sanderson
Instead of asking the Ford dealer if installing a Hypertech power programmer III in his brand new F250 would void his warranty, Jeffrey Roebuck asked the parts seller. When his engine blew a gasket, he learned the hard way that nifty after-market parts void a vehicle's warranty. However, since Roebuck is a plaintiff's lawyer, he knows the American civil justice system, some would say, grants him the opportunity to make others pay for his mistake. He is suing Ford for "fraudulently" marketing its trucks as being "Built Ford Tough."
Case No. B179-817