Family of Man Killed in Industrial Accident to be Compensated

The Ammons Law Firm won compensation in a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of the wife and three children of a 39-year-old worker killed at a tank battery site located on an Upton County, Texas oil lease.  While the worker was clearing the site of vegetation overgrowth, a large, heavy flare stack at the site fell.  The flare stack struck the man in the head, causing a major penetrating injury that resulted in brain herniation from which the man died two days later.

The lawsuit Ammons filed for family surviving the worker contained allegations that the flare stack had been left standing without adequate support at the tank battery after it had been disconnected from a heater that was being replaced. Without being connected to any process apparatus at the site, its only remaining means of support were three corroded guy wires attached to fence posts in the ground. When the first of the wires broke, the flare stack fell. The premises owner/operator and subcontractors were sued for creating the exceedingly hazardous condition at the work site and for then failing to immediately remove the unsupported flare stack or barricade the area so that workers were not allowed access and placed at risk.

The family sought damages that included expenses incurred in trying to save the man’s life, the loss of the support of their loved one as well as the loss of his companionship and society, and for the mental anguish they have experienced and will continue to suffer in the future as a result of the death of this loving husband and father.

“This hardworking family man’s death was entirely preventable,” says Ammons. “Those in charge at the site knew the disconnected stack needed to be removed to ensure that workers were not endangered, but no one bothered to get it done.”

The Ammons Law Firm has a nationwide personal injury practice focusing on tire defects, truck accidents, rollovers, consumer protection and product liability, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, post-collision fires, seat belt defects, airbag defects, and plant explosions.