Oil Rig Worker Whose Negligence Suit Was Tossed Will Try Again

Wednesday, May 25, 2016 | 0

After his initial $3 million lawsuit was thrown out of court on May 17, a Louisiana installation worker who was injured on an oil rig two years ago plans to file a new lawsuit against his employer, according to the Houma Today newspaper.

The lawsuit was filed under the U.S. Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, which governs workplace injuries offshore but still in U.S. territory.

In April, Walter Hewitt sued Frank’s International, a company that supplies and installs drilling equipment on oil rigs, seeking damages from the injuries he sustained in 2014 when working inside a toolbox aboard the Frontier Driller rig owned by Noble Corp. and operated by Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

Hewitt says a wind gust blew the toolbox lid, which hit him in the head and fractured his spine.

He alleged in the lawsuit that Frank’s International failed to provide him with a box that had a hydraulic closure system, which could have helped it withstand the strong winds.

However U.S. District Court Judge Jane Triche Milazzo dismissed the case because Frank’s International didn’t own the rig, according to the paper. “It has been undisputed in this matter that the Frontier Driller was owned by Noble and operated by Shell,” the judge wrote in throwing out the case.

Under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, claimants can bring a claims of negligence against a vessel owner for vessel negligence.

This time, Hewitt’s attorney says that his client will simply seek workers’ compensation benefits.