Court upholds seaman's $ 5.2 million dollar judgement from ladder fall

A barge worker who fell off a ladder has been awarded $ 5.2 million by a New York appellate court.

George Brown, plaintiff, suffered undisclosed injuries after an antenna pole he was using as a handrail broke. The accident occurred as Brown was descending from the deckhouse roof, where he had been filling tanks.

Brown sued the Reinaur Transportation Companies for unsafe working conditions and for an unseaworthy vessel. The appellate court's verdict upheld an earlier decision by a lower court that was being contested by Reinaur, which claimed that there was no negligence because the accident occurred on an "unmanned barge."