PITTSBURGH — A towboat engineer claims spilled diesel fuel on the vessel's staircase caused his serious injuries.
Robert Michael Owings filed a complaint Aug. 19 in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County against Imperial River Transport LLC alleging negligence, unseaworthiness and other claims.
According to his complaint, Owings was working aboard the M/V Buck Johnson that was towing barges on the Monongahela and Ohio rivers on Feb. 1, 2021. He claims that he had been overworked that day and that around midnight, he was awoken to help fix a portable generator that was powering the vessel's steering radar, lights and other critical systems.
Owings further claims the generator had run out of fuel and in the dark conditions, he slipped on spilled diesel on the towboat stairs which the deckhands had failed to clean up. He says he fell headfirst down the stairs.
He alleges that as a deckhand attempted to help him, he too slipped and fell down the stairs due to the spill. Owings claims he was left in his quarters with serious injuries for the remainder of the 10–13-hour trip to the vessel's destination and drifted in and out of consciousness.
He also claims he was unable to work for one year due to his injuries and hip surgery and that after June 2021, the defendants stopped paying his wages and maintenance.
Owings seeks monetary relief, interest, trial by jury and all other just relief. He is represented by Frederick Goldsmith and E. Richard Ogrodowski of Goldsmith & Ogrodowski LLC in Pittsburgh.