HOUSTON – A jury recently found that a plaintiff who sued ExxonMobil for millions of dollars following a workplace injury was the one primarily at fault.
Seeking an award of exemplary damages, Jeremy Souders filed suit against Exxon on Aug. 2, 2018 in Harris County District Court.
According to his original petition, on May 1, 2018, Souders was working at Exxon’s Baytown refinery when he was crushed by a load during a crane operation.
James Old, Jr.
Souders claimed Exxon was grossly negligent, accusing the company of failing to supervise its workers.
Court records show Souders, an advanced rigger, was on a crew working on a turnaround at the refinery. The crew was employed by a contractor and was using a 120-ton crane to lift a 32,000-pound heat-exchanger bundle onto a flatbed trailer.
Souders had rigged the bundle to the crane, and the crane operator initiated the lift while Souders was still in the zone of danger. The lifted bundle unexpectedly swung and crushed Souders’ pelvis and left femur against an adjacent, stationary bundle.
According to Souders, his employer had frequently failed to plan past lifts properly and failed to appoint a lift director, all without reprimand from Exxon.
Souders testified that, at the time of the incident, he was helping to stabilize the load and clear the lift area.
Exxon denied negligence and argued that the incident was solely the responsibility of Souders, the crew and their employer. In addition, Souders’ supervisor testified that Souders was not assigned to do the rigging and should not have been in the zone of danger at all.
Exxon further asserted that, under Chapter 95 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, it exercised or retained no control over the manner in which the work was performed, other than the right to order the work to start or stop or to inspect progress or receive reports.
Court records show no Exxon employees were on the crew, and no Exxon employees told Souders were to stand or directed when the lift should start or stop.
Furthermore, Souders had undergone minor outpatient surgery earlier that day, and Exxon maintained that his doctor had instructed him not to do any heavy lifting for 24 hours.
Court records also show that Exxon was able to successfully designate JV Industrial Corp., Souders employer, as a responsible third party.
At trial, a jury found that Exxon retained some control over the manner in which JVIC’s work was performed, but only assigned 30 percent of the blame to Exxon, according the jury charge, which was filed on April 30.
The jury found that Souders was 50 percent responsible for causing his injuries, assigning the remainder of the blame (20 percent) to JVIC.
The jury awarded Souders $60,000 for loss of earning capacity in the past. No damages were awarded for Souders alleged pain, mental anguish, impairment and disfigurement.
The jury declined to answer the question on gross negligence.
Souders counsel sought more than $10.5 million in actual damages.
The Arnold & Itkin law firm in Houston represents him.
Exxon is represented by Hicks Thomas attorney James Old, Jr.
Case No. 2018-51413