HOUSTON, Texas. — Hannah Daspit, the wife of one of the men missing after the Seacor Power capsized, has filed a lawsuit against the company in Texas court.
The suit, against Seacor Marine, Seacor Liftboats and Talos Energy, was filed Wednesday in Houston.
KATC confirmed that a second lawsuit was filed in Texas court on Friday by Krista Vercher, the fiancé of Jay Guevara, against Seacore Marine, Seacore Liftboats and Talos Energy.
Both Daspit and Vercher are being represented by attorney Frank Spagnoletti.
The suit alleges that Daspit's husband, Dylan Daspit, was working on the Seacor Power as a "borrowed employee." It alleges that the liftboat got underway despite dangerous weather conditions while "at the direction and control" of Talos Energy. When the liftboat left Port Fourchon, the suit alleges, the National Weather Service was forecasting tropical storm-force winds with "suddenly higher waves" in the area.
The boat left anyway, "putting money over safety and the lives of the men on board," the lawsuit alleges.
"Since the incident, the Decedent's father, Scott Daspit, has personally searched the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding shoreline where the vessel was lost, by both air and sea, looking for his son with hope and a prayer," the suit states. "Decedent's loving wife, Hannah Daspit, has also personally searched for her beloved husband Dylan, in the hope of finding him, not only for her, but for her two young children who miss their dad."
"I know what the family hopes comes out of all of this. Maybe they can do this safer. Maybe have ePERB devices so if someone falls into the water they can find them immediately," Spagnoletti said in an interview with KATC.
"They don't have to listen to the radio to find out if there is a bad storm coming. They're supposed to listen to the weather," he continued. "I don't mean just the captain, I mean the dispatcher, I mean Talos Energy. It's usually about getting the boat out on site, which is exactly what happened here. Time is money. You don't blame the people who do the work everyday for you when things go wrong. You are the captain of the ship, that is the owner."
The lawsuit alleges that Dylan Daspit, before his death, as well as Hannah Daspit, suffered damages that exceed the amount of $25 million. That includes "exemplary damages" that they ask the trier of fact (either the jury or the judge who decides the case) to award to "deter such conscious indifference to human life and suffering and to deter corporations placing corporate profits, money and power over lives of hardworking Americans."
Spagnoletti says the sooner families like Daspit file, the better.
"All these widows are going to need lawyers, all the injured parties will need lawyers. They will try to limit the liability of the vessel after the loss."
The filings request a jury to decide the case, and request that the three companies named as defendants be served with the lawsuit. The suit does, however, reserve the plaintiffs' rights to add other defendants if discovery uncovers others who are responsible for what happened.
