Tugboat Operator Faces Judges Next Week in Jones Act Lawsuit

Madison County, ILA retired tugboat operator is suing his former employer over allegations that the company violated Jones Act maritime law by providing an unsafe working environment.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">Paul Dawdy, the plaintiff in the impending lawsuit, was working on board the Velda Taylor tugboat off of the coast of Illinois. One day in November 2006, while the boat was returning to shore, Dawdy tripped over a loose metal cable and fell overboard, where he became pinned between the boat and the dock until a rescue could be attempted.

Dawdy is claiming that his employer, Lewis and Clark Marine of Granite City, was aware of the loose wire but made no effort to correct it, thereby placing him and all other operators of the Velda Taylor in a dangerous working environment.

For their part, Lewis and Clark have filed a counterclaim against Dowdy alleging that the sailor directly contributed to his own accident by failing to exercise reasonable care. The company furthermore alleged that Dowdy's poor physical fitness left him unable to satisfactorily perform his job, a fact that he had kept hidden from them prior to his hiring.