Offshore welder sues law firm that first contacted him in the hospital

A pipe welder is suing his former attorneys for wrongfully filing a lawsuit against his ex-employer.

Juan Puga, a Mexican national, alleges Tommy R. Hastings and the Hastings Law Firm of The Woodlands, TX, improperly filed the claim against his former employer Fluid Crane which resulted in the termination of his workers' compensation benefits.

Puga was injured on Sept. 24, 2008 while being transferred from a vessel in a personnel basket off the Louisiana coast.  Within one week, Hastings solicited him while he was recuperating in a Louisiana hospital, his complaint says.

Puga was receiving over $1,000 per week in compensation benefits from Fluid plus all medical expenses until signing the contract with Hastings. After Hastings filed the suit in Brazoria County District Court and argued that Puga was a Jones Act seaman, the benefits were halted and he received only $15 a day in maintenance.

Puga says he was not a seaman and the case should never have been filed because Fluid had no exposure to liability. Hastings did not reply to his attempts to question him about his loss of benefits, Puga claims.

He then used new counsel, non-suited the Jones Act case, and filed a federal claim against the boat owners, platform operators and crane operator's employer. That claim was settled without the involvement of Hastings, which has filed a petition seeking 45 percent of the settlement to cover their attorney's fees and other damages, Puga's suit states.

Puga has requested the court to declare that Hastings was discharged with cause and they are only entitled to their portion of previously earned attorney fees. He also seeks court costs.

Source: Louisiana Record