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CHARLESTON – A St. Albans man says he was severely burned by an accident involving a steam pipe on the campus of West Virginia State University.
Shaquan Barnes filed a lawsuit March 14 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Perma-Pipe Inc., MFRI Inc., Preferred Piping Systems Inc., Dougherty Company Inc., West Virginia Heating and Plumbing Co., Chemtreat Inc. and four unnamed defendants, alleging negligence and premises liability.
According to the complaint, Barnes was injured on Dec. 12, 2008 while visiting his grandmother, a university employee. The suit claims the ground above a steam pipe on campus gave way, dropping Barnes waist-deep into the resulting hole and exposing his extremities to scalding heat. The plaintiff says he has incurred medical expenses of at least $553,566 and has been permanently impaired.
Barnes seeks a jury trial and compensatory damages to be determined at trial, capped at $75,000 per defendant. He is represented by attorney Charles R. “Rusty” Webb of The Webb Law Centre PLLC in Charleston. Judge Joanna Tabit is assigned to the case.
Kanawha Circuit Court Case number 16-C-371