A petroleum company and a refining company are suing an oilfield services business, alleging it did not defend and indemnify them in an underlying suit.
Marathon Petroleum Company and Blanchard Refining Company, both of Findlay, Ohio, filed a lawsuit Oct. 29 in the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas against Wyatt Field Service Company, alleging breach of contract.
On Feb. 21, 2014, the suit states, an accident occurred at the Wyatt worksite on the CRP-2 flare unit of the Galveston Bay Refinery, in which Wyatt employee Oscar Garcia suffered second- and third-degree burns from a fire. Garcia subsequently brought suit against Marathon and Blanchard in a case styled Oscar Garcia v. Marathon Petroleum Company and Blanchard Refining Company in Galveston District Court.
Marathon and Blanchard reached a settlement agreement with Garcia, and in a letter dated Aug. 18, Marathon demanded indemnity from Wyatt pursuant to a service agreement between the two parties, but to date, this suit alleges, Wyatt has refused to acknowledge its indemnity obligations in this matter.
The plaintiffs allege Wyatt has breached its contract by failing to protect, indemnify, hold harmless and defend them in the underlying suit. As a result, the plaintiffs say they have suffered damages of more than $1 million.
The plaintiffs seek damages for breach of contract, plus attorney fees and court costs. They are represented by attorneys Joel Z. Montgomery and (of counsel) Laina R. Miller, both of Shipley Snell Montgomery in Houston.
Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas case number 3:15-cv-00309.