HUNTINGTON -- A Cabell County man has sued a Florida-based transport company, alleging an unsafe work environment after he says he sustained numerous injuries on the job.
Orville McCloud Jr. of Huntington filed a lawsuit July 29 in Cabell Circuit Court against CSX Transportation Inc., alleging violations of the Federal Employers' Liability Act.
According to the complaint, on Aug. 1, 2012, McCloud was working as a member of the defendant's train crew at its yard near Seventh Avenue in Huntington when he was injured while cutting a thick tree branch with a chainsaw. The suit states the chainsaw became caught and began jerking violently, leading McCloud to suffer serious and possibly permanent injuries to his back, neck, right shoulder and right arm.
The suit says the defendant failed to provide McCloud with safe place to work by giving him tools that were either unsafe and/or defective, not informing him that the tools could potentially cause injury, and not enforcing safe work rules and procedures.
Additionally, the suit states, CSX was reckless and careless in assigning McCloud tasks that were beyond his physical limitations at the time as he was scheduled to undergo surgery for pre-existing numbness and pain in his right hand later that month. The defendant knew about his upcoming surgery prior to the incident with the chainsaw, the lawsuit says.
The plaintiff alleges he has and will continue to endure physical pain, discomfort, mental anguish, lost earnings and benefits, medical expenses and the inability to partake in his usual duties.
McCloud seeks damages, plus suit costs and other relief deemed appropriate by the court. He is represented by attorney Michael R. Davis of The Moody Law Firm in Portsmouth. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Paul T. Farrell.
Cabell Circuit Court case number 15-C-540.