$1.5 MILLION SETTLEMENT FOR INJURED SCALLOP VESSEL CREW MEMBER WHOSE BIG TOE WAS AMPUTATED

A Case Study in Vessel Negligence, Unseaworthiness, and What Every Commercial Fisherman Should Know

Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country and often the injuries that end careers happen during routine maintenance, not dramatic storms at sea. That was true for our client, a longtime scallop vessel crew member who nearly lost his big toe during an ordinary winch repair at the pier.

Latti Associates represented him through litigation and secured a $1.5 million settlement shortly before trial. Here’s what happened, and what it means for other maritime workers facing similar risks.

The Injury: A Routine Task Turns Catastrophic

Our client came to the United States in 1994 with a seventh/eighth-grade education and spent more than 30 years working on commercial fishing vessels. In 2023, he suffered a career-ending injury while the crew was changing out wire on a winch aboard a scallop vessel docked at the pier.

Crew members testified that it was custom and practice for one crew member to stand at the back of the winch and another at the front, both hammering the wire to keep it level and tight as it spooled. Following the captain’s own order, our client stood at the front of the winch, hammering the wire as instructed.

As he stood in the position where he’d been ordered, the head of the wire clamp securing the wire to the winch nearly severed his left big toe.

The captain was standing just feet away, directing the operation yet at trial preparation, he claimed he never gave the order, that it wasn’t procedure, and that he didn’t even see our client get hurt. Crew members told a different story.

The toe became gangrenous and required complete amputation. Our client now lives with a disfigured foot, continuous sharp pain, tingling, numbness, and a permanent limp.

The Legal Case: Negligence and Unseaworthiness

As a seaman injured aboard a vessel, our client had two powerful legal theories available to him Jones Act negligence against his employer, and unseaworthiness under general maritime law against the vessel owner. Together, they formed the basis of the claim:

• The wire-changing procedure itself was inherently dangerous
• The vessel lacked proper equipment or a safer procedure to wind wire evenly onto the winch
• The winch was operated while our client stood in an unsafe position
• No one instructed or warned him to move before the winch was engaged

The defense pushed back hard, arguing our client was contributorily negligent for standing in a position he and every other crew member knew was dangerous and was not the proper way. This is a common defense tactic in maritime injury cases: shift blame onto the injured worker for following the very procedure the vessel required.

Why the Vocational Impact Mattered

This wasn’t just a physical injury, it ended a 30-year career. A vocational expert evaluated our client’s limited formal education, decades of experience exclusively in commercial fishing, his injury, and his limited English proficiency, and concluded he was vocationally disabled and unable to return to any form of substantial work.

Our client’s claim for past and future lost wages exceeded a million dollars on its own. The defense argued he could return to commercial fishing.  However, a position the evidence did not support.

The Result

$1,500,000  SETTLEMENT SECURED AFTER FULL PRE-TRIAL PREPARATION

The case settled shortly before trial, after all pre-trial filings were complete which a reminder that thorough trial preparation often drives the strongest resolution, even when a case never reaches a jury.

What This Case Means for Injured Maritime Workers

Winch operations remain one of the most common causes of serious injury on commercial fishing vessels. A vessel owner has a duty to provide safe equipment and safe procedures and that duty doesn’t disappear because a task is “routine” or has “always been done this way.”

If you were hurt while working aboard a commercial vessel, don’t assume a dangerous but customary practice means no one is responsible. It often means the opposite.

If you or a family member was injured working on a fishing vessel or other commercial ship, call now to speak with an experienced maritime injury attorney about your rights.