2nd lawsuit filed in El Faro tragedy

Family of Jeremie Riehm suing TOTE Services and Sea Star Lines

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The attorney of an El Faro crew member's family announced a lawsuit Monday against TOTE Services and Sea Star Lines.

TOTE employed the crew of the El Faro and Sea Star Lines owned the vessel.

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Jacksonville attorney Steve Pajcic is representing the family of Jeremie Riehm, which includes his wife of 17 years and two children, who live in Fort Myers.

"The management of TOTE should have never let the ship set sail. The ship itself was really too antiquated, too leaky, too decrepit, to be running this route between Puerto Rico and Jacksonville during hurricane season in a section of the Bermuda Triangle so there's liability for both those companies," said Pajcic.

Pajcic filed the lawsuit under the Jones Act, a federal law that provides a statutory framework for seaman and crew members when they are injured or die while at sea. He said it's different from workers compensation law.

Pajcic did not put a dollar amount on the lawsuit because he said he's waiting to find out about insurance available, but said the family is entitled to damages that would amount to multi-millions of dollars.

"We wrote to the company and said, tell us how much insurance you've got. They failed. They wouldn't tell us. They refused to disclose. That's a bad sign. It suggests it's probably inadequate," said Pajcic.

Pajcic said Riehm's family decided not to name the El Faro captain in the lawsuit because they didn't think he was ultimately responsible.

The lawsuit comes one week after a lawsuit was announced by another Jacksonville family seeking $100 million in damages.

TOTE said it was not commenting on individual lawsuits at this time.

The El Faro sank earlier in October with a crew of 33 people on board, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.


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Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.