DeBlanc v. International Marine Carriers

748 So. 2d 649
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 15, 1999
Docket99-CA-0482
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 748 So. 2d 649 (DeBlanc v. International Marine Carriers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DeBlanc v. International Marine Carriers, 748 So. 2d 649 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

748 So.2d 649 (1999)

Elliot Robert DeBLANC, et al.
v.
INTERNATIONAL MARINE CARRIERS, INC. and Robert L. Torres.

No. 99-CA-0482.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

December 15, 1999.
Rehearing Denied January 14, 2000.

*650 Louis R. Koerner, Jr., New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Plaintiffs/Appellants.

Gilbert V. Andry, III, Ellen E. Roniger, New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Defendants/Appellees.

Court composed of Judge MOON LANDRIEU, Judge MICHAEL E. KIRBY, Judge ROBERT A. KATZ.

KIRBY, Judge

Plaintiff Elliot DeBlanc appeals the dismissal of his suit against his employer International Marine Carriers, Inc. and its president, Robert Torres on an exception of no cause of action.

We reverse.

On March 2, 1998, plaintiff filed suit in tort on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated against his employer, International Marine Carriers, Inc. and it's president Robert Torres. His original petition alleged as follows:

5.
Rather than comply with the procedures mandated by the United States Government and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for the removal of asbestos and the remediation of asbestos-contaminated vessels, defendants caused petitioner, [...] to remove the asbestos by hand, without proper protective clothing, and without compliance with government and other normal and sensible safety precautions. In addition, the removed asbestos was stored in stockpiles in the open on land and was free to blow around the shipyard ... where it was inhaled by petitioner and petitioners were otherwise exposed to the hazards of this substance.....
6.
During the period of time in which the asbestos was being salvaged, defendant Torres would routinely ride his truck into the IMC yard, stirring up clouds of dust from asbestos ... under circumstances in which petitioner ... would be exposed to and would breath [sic] air contaminated with asbestos particles.
7.
Even after the onshore asbestos stockpiles were cordoned off by governmental authorities, IMC, directed by defendant Torres himself, ordered petitioner ... to put unprotected and uncontained asbestos into 55 gallon drums for disposal without utilizing proper safety procedures and despite the specific warnings and directions of the governmental authorities....
8.
Since the time that he left the employment of defendants, petitioner has begun to suffer from shortness of breath and easy fatigability that are associated with acute and chronic exposure to asbestos.
9.
The chronic conditions and other loss and damage suffered by petitioner are typical of the chronic effects of exposure to asbestos. To the knowledge of petitioner, other members of the class have begun to exhibit similar symptoms since they left the employment of the defendants.
10.
The loss and damage to petitioner and to other members of the class were caused by the intentional actions of the defendants. These actions were done with full knowledge of but in spite of the violation of mandatory prohibitory laws and general public knowledge concerning *651 the inevitable harm and damaging physical consequences of such unprotected exposure to asbestos.
* * *
12.
Petitioner and the other members of the class have also suffered mental anguish on account of their knowledge of the likelihood and/or inevitability of suffering from asbestosis and other disease processes in the future and their fear of the onset of the symptoms thereof.

Defendants filed an exception of no cause of action, claiming that plaintiff was precluded from asserting a cause of action in tort against his employer under the exclusivity provisions of the Louisiana Workmen's Compensation Act, La. R.S. 23:1032, subd. A(1)(a). The district court maintained defendant's exception on May 26, 1998 and granted plaintiff leave to amend his petition.

On June 5, 1998 plaintiff filed a first amended petition for damages and class action. That petition alleged as follows:

2.
Defendant, International marine Carriers, Inc. ("IMC") is the owner and operator of a marine salvage yard.... Defendant Torres is the President of IMC and made all the purchasing and salvage decisions which adversely affected and damaged petitioner and the other members of the class in that he decided which vessels to purchase, and he established the salvage procedures that he knew were substantially certain to cause the injury and damages to petitioner and the members of the class.
* * *
4
....The only way in which such salvage operations could be conducted in order to make the level of profits required by defendants was by means of the use of casual labor and by the salvage methods, described hereinafter, that were substantially certain to cause asbestos and the other disease processes from which petitioner and the other members of the class have suffered and/or will suffer.
5.
Rather than comply with the procedures mandated by the United States Government and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for the removal of asbestos and the remediation of asbestos-contaminated vessels, defendants caused petitioner, ... to remove the asbestos by hand, without proper protective clothing, and without compliance with government or other normal and sensible safety precautions. In addition, the removed asbestos was stored in stockpiles in the open on land and was free to blow around the shipyard and be ground into equipment and roadways, where it was substantially certain to be inhaled by petitioner and petitioners were otherwise substantially certain to be and were in fact exposed to the hazards of this substance.
6.
During the period ... asbestos was being removed by hand and without proper safety precautions, defendant Torres would routinely ride his truck into the IMC yard, stirring up clouds of dust from asbestos that had been permitted to be ground into the roadways under circumstances in which petitioner and other members of the class were substantially certain to and were, to his knowledge, exposed to and breathed air contaminated with asbestos particles and under circumstances in which Torres knew of the exposure and the substantially certain consequences of exposure to asbestos.
*652 7.
Even after the asbestos that had been stockpiled onshore were [sic] cordoned off by governmental authorities who informed defendants of the risks associated with exposure to such hazardous substance, IMC, directed by defendant Torres himself, ordered petitioner and other members of the class to put unprotected and uncontained asbestos into 55 gallon drums for disposal without utilizing proper safety procedures, without personal protective equipment, and despite the specific warnings and directions of the governmental authorities who subsequently found out about and then stopped this practice.
8.
The injuries to plaintiff and to the other members of the class who were exposed to asbestos and injured thereby while working at the IMC facility.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Conner v. Kraemer-Shows Oilfield Services, LLC
876 F. Supp. 2d 750 (W.D. Louisiana, 2012)
Zimko v. American Cyanamid
905 So. 2d 465 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005)
Hirst v. Thieneman
901 So. 2d 578 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005)
Rutledge v. Hibernia Corp.
808 So. 2d 765 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
Rayford v. Angelo Iafrate Construction, L.L.C.
806 So. 2d 898 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
Larimer v. Harper
773 So. 2d 218 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
Hayes v. First Commerce Corp.
763 So. 2d 733 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
748 So. 2d 649, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deblanc-v-international-marine-carriers-lactapp-1999.