• Brian A. Beckcom; Houston, TX, for Joseph Bernard, Jr.

• None

• Charles "Chuck" A. Mouton; Preis Kraft & Roy; Lafayette, LA, for R & B Falcon Drilling USA, Inc.
• Thomas W. Duesler; Harris, Lively & Duesler; Beaumont, TX, for Southern Technology & Services Inc.

• None

Bernard sued his employer, R & B Falcon Drilling USA Inc., Houma, La., under the Jones Act alleging unseaworthiness and negligence. He also sued Southern Technology & Services Inc., Houma, La., a third-party contractor which had repaired the drawworks a month before the accident, under a negligence theory.

Discovery revealed that the pins for the braking unit in the drawworks elevator had not been secured when the drawworks braking assembly was reworked. Mark Bunn, the employee for Southern Technology in charge of installing the brake bands, stated that he was not on the rig when the job was performed. Bunn stated that R & B Falcon employees installed the bands.

R & B Falcon denied Bunn's allegations, claiming instead that Bunn was on the rig when the bands were repaired and that he failed to do his job properly.

The defendants alleged that Bernard was negligent for failing to move out of the way of slow-moving pipe-lift elevator. They also alleged that Bernard did not move out of the way because he had been wearing stolen work boots which didn't fit properly. They indicated that at the time of the accident two other workers were performing the same operation as Bernard and they were able to avoid injury.

The defendants had Bernard evaluated twice by two different doctors, both of whom disagreed with the RSD diagnosis and the determination that Bernard was disabled from future work.