CHARLESTON – A Jones Act seaman residing in Ohio alleges he is owed maintenance and cure benefits after a fall while working on a towing vessel on the Kanawha River near Charleston.
Leslie A. McCombs filed a complaint Aug. 10 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Charleston Division against Superior Marine Ways Inc. alleging negligence.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on Oct. 6, 2015, he was in the course and scope of his employment as a deck engineer for defendant aboard the M/V Michael D. when he sustained severe and debilitating injuries to his left leg, left ankle and other parts of his body.
The plaintiff holds Superior Marine Ways Inc. responsible because the defendants allegedly failed to staff the vessels with competent and sufficient crewmembers, failed to provide safe and adequate equipment for the job and refused to provide maintenance and cure benefits.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks damages in excess of the minimum jurisdictional limits of the court, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs of court and such other general and special relief. He is represented by Matthew L. Clark of Kayser Layne & Clark PLLC in Point Pleasant and Matthew D. Shaffer of Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris LLP in Houston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Charleston Division Case number 2:17-cv-03789