BEAUMONT - The Ferguson Law Firm, one of the area’s leading personal injury firm, has filed suit on behalf of a 40 year old Jasper County man who was severely burned when an oil rig exploded in August 2019.
The lawsuit, spearheaded by law firm partners Cody A. Dishon and Jane S. Leger, was filed on behalf of Brandon Fregia, the most severely injured of the workers.
Fregia sustained severe burns from the waist up as a result of an oil rig explosion at a Jeffcoat Production drilling site on Aug. 9, 2019.
The lawsuit names Jeffcoat Production Company Inc., Deluxe Lease Maintenance of SETX, and SETX Oilfield Services as defendants. Mr. Fregia was engulfed in flames and suffered severe burns from the waist up from the explosion. He was transported by air ambulance to the burn unit and has undergone multiple surgeries and grafts for his injuries.
“This case provides another example why Texas consistently leads the nation in serious workplace injuries and deaths,” Dishon said. “The oil rig explosion was completely preventable had the defendants followed basic industry standards.
The number of people killed on a jobsite in Texas continues to rise and Texas continues to lead the country in this fatal category, according to the law firm.
“The Ferguson Law Firm is honored to represent Brandon Fregia, an oilfield worker who suffered severe burns and other catastrophic injuries following this major oil rig explosion near Jasper, Texas,” Dishon said.
The lawsuit alleges that both Jeffcoat Production and SETX Oilfield Services failed to maintain, follow, or enforce policies and procedures for safe workover operations.
The workover operations required the use of a watertank; however, the defendants delivered and placed that tank in dangerous proximity to the well, leading to the subsequent explosion.
The Texas Railroad Commission, in its subsequent investigation, cited this complete lack of safety as causing or contributing to the explosion.
Dishon and Leger were quick in their actions on behalf of Fregia. They requested and obtained pre-suit depositions from a Jasper County District Court along with significant documents critical to the prosecution of the case.
“Obtaining the evidence before it is lost, misplaced or otherwise disappears is critical,” Leger said. “We did this here and, because of that, we are in a much better position to take care of our client, his needs and his rights.”
The law firm’s lawyers have obtained more than 150 verdicts or settlements in excess of $1,000,000, including many greater than $10,000,000.