BEAUMONT - An Orange County man is suing a maritime company, alleging negligence for injuries he says he sustained while working in a ship canal.
Damian Brock of Orange filed a lawsuit Jan. 19 in Jefferson County District Court against Kirby Inland Marine, Inc. of Texas, The Kirby Corporation, Kirby Inland Marine LP, Batangas Tanker Corporation, and OSG Ship Management Inc., alleging negligence and gross negligence.
According to the complaint, on Oct. 21, Brock was operating a vacuum truck at a barge cleaning facility owned by his employer, Tubal - Cain Marine Services, on the Sabine-Neches ship canal in Port Arthur. The suit says as he was working alongside a barge owned by Kirby, he was struck and crushed by a gangway when the gangway became separated from the barge.
The lawsuit states a vessel owned and operated by Batangas Tanker and OSG Ship Management was traveling in the canal at an excessive rate of speed, causing excessive draft and wake, which placed undue stress on the mooring lines of the Kirby barge, resulting in the barge moving and separating from the attached gangway.
As a result, the complaint says the plaintiff sustained injuries to his right hip, shoulder, spine, nerves, and associated processes, internal organs including his urethra and bladder, and his body in general. Brock also sustained fractures to his pelvis, sacrum, SI joint, and lumbar spine, the suit says.
Brock seeks monetary relief of more than $1 million, punitive or exemplary damages and interests. He is represented by attorneys Clay Dugas and Jane S. Leger of Dugas Leger in Beaumont, and attorneys Jere Jay Bice and Michael C. Hodgkins of Veron, Bice, Palermo & Wilson in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Jefferson County District Court Case number E-198030