A group of seamen injured in an oil rig accident on a navigable waterway in Louisiana can recover punitive damages for their employer’s willful and wanton breach of the general maritime law duty to provide a seaworthy vessel, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.Case: McBride v. Estis Well Service, No. 12-30714, 10/02/2013, published.Facts: Estis Well Service owned and operated a barge supporting a truck-mounted drilling rig operating in Bayou Sorrell, a navigable waterway in Iberville Parish, La. A derrick pipe shifted, causing the rig and truck to topple over. Skye Sonnier ...
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