Vol. 54 No. 10

Trial Magazine

Verdicts & Settlements: Government Liability

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Failure to Provide Adequate Personnel in Shaker Room

October 2018

Nathan Deaver, 32, was a shaker hand aboard a drilling vessel in the Gulf of Mexico. While working with chemical drilling fluids in the vessel’s shaker room, he went up and down multiple flights of stairs for 12-hour periods, five days in a row. As a result, he suffered a heel injury that necessitated a referral to a podiatrist.

The podiatrist diagnosed plantar fasciitis and provided treatment; however, Deaver discontinued the treatment after experiencing excessive pain. His employer, Noble Drilling (US) LLC, would not refer him to another provider and subsequently terminated his employment.

Deaver sued Noble Drilling, alleging liability under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. §688, and general maritime law. The plaintiff claimed that he had suffered a torn peroneal tendon, not plantar fasciitis, and that this resulted from the defendant’s failure to provide sufficient personnel in the shaker room, which required him to go up and down multiple flights of stairs repeatedly over long periods of time.

The defense disputed the plaintiff’s claims and asserted that his plantar fasciitis had resolved.

The jury awarded approximately $350,000.

Citation: Deaver v. Noble Drilling (US) LLC, No. 205-68183 (Tex. Dist. Ct. Harris Cnty. June 15, 2018).

Plaintiff counsel: Patrick M. Dennis, AAJ member Michael P. Doyle, and AAJ member Jeffrey Avery, all of Houston.

Plaintiff experts: Ken McCoin, economics, and William Granberry, orthopedic surgery, both of Houston; and Jack Madeley, safety, College Station, Texas.

Defense experts: Alan Ettinger, podiatry, Fort Worth, Texas; Donna Johnson, vocational rehabilitation, Corpus Christi, Texas; Jimmy Mouton, drilling, Egan, La.; and Travis Hanson, orthopedics, Houston.