BRUNSWICK Maine — Florida attorney Willie Gary announced Wednesday morning that the family of a crew member aboard the lost El Faro cargo ship will sue parent companies Tote Maritime of Puerto Rico and TOTE Services Inc., as well as El Faro Capt. Michael Davidson of Windham, Maine, for $100 million.
Lonnie Jordan’s mother, Joanna Johnson, is suing for “gross negligence,” Gary said at a news conference in Jacksonville, Florida. Gary said he also represents the families of other El Faro victims who will file suit, but he declined to name them.
Jordan, 33, worked on the ship for 13 years as a cook and held other jobs, the Jacksonville Times-Union reported.
Jordan was one of the 33 crew members aboard the 790-foot El Faro, which left Jacksonville en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico. At 7:20 a.m. Oct. 1, the Coast Guard lost contact with the ship as it battled through Hurricane Joaquin, after receiving a distress call reporting the ship lost power and was listing by 15 degrees.
The U.S. Coast Guard called off the search for survivors on Oct. 7.
In addition to the 53-year-old captain, the El Faro crew included five Maine Maritime Academy graduates: Mitchell Kuflik, 26, of Brooklyn, New York, a 2011 graduate; Danielle Randolph, 34, of Rockland, a 2005 graduate and the ship’s second mate; Michael Holland, 25, of Wilton, a 2012 graduate; and Dylan Meklin, 23, who graduated from Rockland High School in 2010 and from Maine Maritime in May.
Gary alleged Wednesday that the company could have sent another ship to Puerto Rico and could have taken a “safer” route.
“What you’ve done was wrong — there was no question about it. You didn’t have to do what you did,” Gary said. “You could have waited. The ship was not seaworthy, and you knew or should have known that, but you had to deliver cargo to get the green, and we won’t stand for it. … We’re saying to corporate America, ‘you can run but you can’t hide. We’re coming after you.’”
Gary said the $100 million sought in the suit may not be enough.
“Money won’t bring him back, I know, but we’re going to change things,” Gary said. “That’s what big business understands — when you hit them in their pockets.”
Asked about naming Johnson in the suit, Gary said, “we hope to gain justice across the board, and sometimes justice can come in different ways. It can come implicating others because of the position they’re in and the role that they played in the disaster.”
The suit was announced as the National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard continue separate investigations into the ship’s disappearance.
“The company refuses to discuss individual lawsuits out of respect of the process,” Tote Maritime spokesman Michael Hanson wrote in an email sent Wednesday afternoon. “The company remains fully focused on supporting the families and their loved ones.”