Pearland resident sues over workplace injuries

A Pearland resident is suing after, he says, a workplace accident crushed his foot.

Pearland resident Derrick Davis filed a lawsuit on Jan. 12 in Harris County District Court against Celanese Chemicals and Clean Harbors Catalyst Technologies, citing negligence and gross negligence.

Davis says on April 24, he sustained injuries while working for Clean Harbors at a Celanese Chemicals facility. According to the brief, his foot was crushed after he was instructed to remove his steel-toed boots to enter a reactor vessel.

The suit alleges that while Davis was inside the reactor, a Clean Harbor employee used highly compressed air to knock out a pipe plugging the reactor and the pipe struck Davis’s foot, crushing his skin, bones, and tendons.

Davis is seeking actual and exemplary damages, as well as court costs.

He is being represented in the case by Kingwood attorney Davis Hanes.

Harris County District Court Case No. 2012-02416.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Harris County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.