Transocean Ordered to Pay $4M for Louisiana Worker’s Injury

A federal jury has ordered Transocean to pay more than $4 million in damages to an oilfield worker injured in an offshore rig accident.

The recent judgment capped a trial for the lawsuit that 32-year-old Dan Averette filed over the July 14, 2007, accident aboard the Amirante, a rig owned by Transocean Enterprise Inc. and operated by Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc.

Averette’s lawyers say their client was injured when the rig’s hydraulic basket malfunctioned while he was working in it. Averette was a casing stabber employed by Frank’s Casing Crew and Rental Tools. His lawyers say the accident left him with permanent brain damage.