The widow of a Washington County dock worker who died last year in an accident on the Monongahela River has filed a federal negligence suit against his employer.
Diane M. Martin, the widow of Blaine E. Martin Jr., 55, of Donora, is seeking more than $75,000 in damages against Matt Canestrale Contracting Inc., of Belle Vernon, who owned the Burrell Coal Yard dock facility in Carroll, Washington County, where Martin died Jan. 17, 2007.
According to Washington County Coroner Tim Warco, Martin's body was found in a barge Jan. 18, the morning after Diane Martin reported her husband did not return home from work. Warco ruled the death an accident and said Martin died of head injuries.
The lawsuit alleges that Martin was walking on an empty, jumbo open-hopper barge when he encountered ice on the barge deck that caused him to slip and fall, striking his back and head on the deck.
"He was found laying face down on the gunnel of the loaded coal barge directly adjacent to the empty jumbo barge from which he fell," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit blames "defective and unsafe conditions aboard the fleet of barges moored at the Burrell Yard dock" and negligence by Canestrale for the accident.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Pittsburgh under the Jones Act, a federal maritime law requiring owners of sea vessels to provide workers with "a safe place to work and furnish a safe, seaworthy vessel, appurtenances, equipment and personnel."
An official at Matt Canestrale Contracting said Friday the company had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit and could not comment.
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