Brown Services, Inc. v. Fairbrother

OPINION

SEERDEN, Justice.

Appellee was injured while working to modify the derrick of a jack-up drilling barge in the territorial waters of Trinidad. The issues on appeal relate to his remedies.

Appellee sued his employer (appellant, Brown Services), Reading and Bates Drilling Co., which operated the jack-up rig, and Amoco Trinidad Oil Co., which had hired Reading to drill offshore wells, among others. Reading had contracted with appellant to modify the derrick to meet Amoco’s drilling specifications. Appellee, by his Fourth Amended Petition, pleaded causes under general maritime law, the Jones…