HOUSTON – A state district lawsuit has been filed in response to a laborer’s death over the summer.
Rudis Odina Hernandez Perez brought the wrongful death suit against Brookstone Homes, Inc. on Dec. 4 in the Harris County 133rd District Court, alleging the defendant made 39-year-old Juan Marino Mejia-Mendez work outside in triple-digit temperatures without any access to water or other hydrating fluids last June.
Mejia-Mendez reportedly exhibited “signs of heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke” and collapsed after working more than eight hours at Brookstone’s jobsite on June 27. According to the suit, workers “failed to take any precautionary steps to prevent further harm” to the decedent for several hours.
He was eventually transported to the hospital where he passed away.
An autopsy conducted on Mejia-Mendez revealed his cause of death was “hyperthermia due to environmental exposure,” the original petition says.
Consequently, the plaintiff seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
Clifford D. Peel, II of The Peel Law Firm in Houston is representing the complainant.
Harris County 133rd District Court Case No. 2018-86240