After a man was swept into the Brazos River and drowned while he had been tethered to a piece of machinery, his family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against several construction companies and the school campus he had been working at, as reported by the Waco Tribune.
J.S., 55, had been working on the Baylor University Stadium when he was killed on January 28.
The suit, seeking unspecified damages, was filed in Harris County. One of the defendants named in the suit, Flexifloat Construction Systems, is based in Houston.
Other defendants include Austin Commercial Inc., Austin Bridge and Road, Derr and Isbell Construction Inc., and Genie Industries Inc.
All of the construction companies named in the suit were involved in the building of a walking bridge over the Brazos River to guide people to and from the school stadium.
While working on the bridge J.S., along with another worker, were pulled into the river when the hydraulic lift they were strapped to slipped into the water from a modular barge.
The other man was able to untether himself from the lift and get safely out of the water. J.S. was not able to release himself from the tether and survive. His body was located approximately four hours later – still strapped to the lift.
Lori Fogleman, the spokeswoman for Baylor commented, "This is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to the (S.) family, but we have not yet seen the lawsuit."
After their investigation is complete, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will release a report.
Vuk Vujasinovic, the attorney for the family, told reporters, "The family wants to know how and why this equipment ended up on the bottom of the Brazos River with their loved one attached to it, causing him to drown. Lawyers for the school and construction companies allowed us only a very limited inspection and gave us one batch of photographs, neither of which answers this question. They told us their clients would not give us their investigation materials unless and until we sued their clients. With this lawsuit, we intend to get the evidence we need to determine how and why this fatality occurred, to hold the responsible parties accountable and to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again."
B.D., the president of Derr and Isbell, and J.S.'s employer, commented that the accident was "very tragic" and "we are all really upset about it and we feel very badly for the family, obviously. It is still being investigated, and other than that and asking people for their thoughts and prayers for the family, there is not much I feel like I can say right now."
The Flexifloat manufactured barge is alleged in the suit as defective in design and "producing cause" of the accident.
Genie Industries' boom lift that J.S. was strapped too, is also named in the suit for defective design.
If you have lost a loved one in a workplace accident, or any type of accident where someone else or machinery was to blame, contact a personal injury lawyer right away to file your lawsuit!