A man has filed a seaman injury lawsuit against Rec Marine Logistics LLC and Rec Boats LLC.

The seaman injury lawsuit says that the defendants owned and operated the OSV Jacob Gerald, a sea vessel on which the plaintiff claims he was injured on in the Gulf of Mexico. The plaintiff, Reynard N., says he was employed by the defendants at the time of the accident.

As Reynard explains in his seaman injury lawsuit, he was performing his regular duties on the ship on May 5, 2018. On that date, he says he slipped on oil that had accumulated on the deck of the vessel. He alleges that the oil was leaking as a result of a problematic galley ceiling.

The seaman injury lawsuit says that the defendant suffered serious injuries as a result of this situation and he argues that the defendants were negligent, causing the accident to occur in the first place. Specifically, Reynard alleges that the vessel was not seaworthy due to the leaking galley ceiling that caused him to slip and fall.

He also alleges in his seaman injury lawsuit that the defendants failed to provide the right equipment to do his job, failed to maintain the vessel in a reasonable state of repair, failed to take necessary precautions, failed to provide him with a safe place to work and were generally negligent with the conditions that caused the slip and fall accident and resulting injuries.

Reynard brings his seaman injury lawsuit under two counts: a claim under the Jones Act and a claim of unseaworthiness.

The plaintiff claims that he suffered serious and life-changing injuries directly because of the unseaworthy nature of the vessel. He alleges that some of the injuries he sustained include lost earnings, medical expenses in his past and future, physical impairment damages, physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, punitive damages and disfigurement.

The plaintiff in the seaman injury lawsuit states that the defendants had a responsibility to keep the vessel reasonably free and clear of hazards that could lead to an injury for an employee on the ship. He argues that the leaking ceiling should have been identified as a maintenance issue to be corrected before the vessel was put back out to sea.

The seaman injury lawsuit says that if proper care had been taken to provide him with safety equipment or to rectify the dangerous situation as soon as it happened that he would not have suffered the life-altering injuries in a slip and fall accident.

Injured seamen are often eligible to pursue legal action when it can be shown that injuries they sustained on the job were caused by the general or specific negligence of owners or operators of a dangerous or defective vessel.

The Jones Act enables these injured parties to pursue legal action when a seaman sustains an injury caused by problems with the vessel or improper provision of safety equipment.

The Seaman Injury Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-00385 in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas Galveston Division.