CULLMAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — The family of one of the men killed in a deadly Smith Lake boating incident in April is suing the bass boat driver, Major League Fishing and the driver of the striper service boat.
On Friday, the family of Joey Broom filed a lawsuit against Major League Fishing, LLC, Flint Davis and Gary Holcombe. Davis is the angler whose boat was involved in the deadly boating incident and Holcombe was operating the Smith Lake Striper Guide Service boat that was also involved.
The lawsuit additionally names 13 “fictitious defendants.”
On April 16, Broom was one of three killed in a deadly boating incident on Smith Lake during a Major League Fishing tournament. WHNT’s sister station WIAT, said officials with Cullman County EMA said the crash happened around 7:07 a.m. in the area of Burr’s Island outside of Miller Bottom and involved multiple boats.
Major League Fishing confirmed that a ‘serious boating accident’ happened on the lake during the second day of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational. The incident involved one of the competing anglers, Davis of Leesburg, Georgia.
ALEA said Davis was the operator of the Nitro Bass Boat that hit the Center Console boat, driven by Holcombe. As a result, 44-year-old John K. Clark, of Cullman, and 62-year-old Jeffrey C. Little, of Brandon, Mississippi, were thrown overboard from the Center Console and drowned. Their bodies were recovered near the Miller Flats area of Smith Lake. Luke H. Morgan & Holcombe were injured in the incident and were both taken to UAB Hospital for treatment.
ALEA said the two-boat crash also killed 58-year-old Broom, saying he was hit by the bass boat itself and was pronounced dead on the scene.
Davis was the only one onboard the Nitro Bass Boat during the crash, while Holcombe, Morgan, Broom, Clark and Little were all on the Center Console.
In the lawsuit, the family of Broom says MLF had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the operation and management of its tournament to prevent harm to third parties, including nonparticipating fishermen on Lewis Smith Lake.
Because of this competition that operated in the foggy conditions on April 16, the lawsuit says MLF created a “foreseeable risk of serious injury or death.” It also says the company failed to implement basic safety measures, including speed limits, launch delays or traffic separation protocols.
The lawsuit lists 7 counts against the defendants:
- Count 1- Negligence and Wanton (deliberate and unprovoked) Conduct against Flint Davis
- Count 2- Negligent Event Management against MLF
- Count 3- Vicarious Liability against MLF
- Count 4- Joint Venture against MLF
- Count 5- Negligent Hiring, Training and Supervision against MLF
- Count 6- Negligence and Wanton (deliberate and unprovoked) Misconduct against Gary Holcombe
- Count 7- Wrongful Death against all defendants
Count 1- Negligence and Wanton Conduct against Flint Davis
This charge comes from the family against Davis, saying he breached his duty to operate his boat in a “safe and prudent manner” while on Smith Lake. As a direct result of this alleged negligence, Broom was killed. It also says Davis acted with “conscious disregard for the safety of others and in a manner that was wanton under Alabama Law.
Count 2- Negligent Event Management against MLF
This charge is against the MLF, saying the organization had a duty to manage the tournament in a manner that ensured the safety of not only participants but also the public that was also present on the lake that day.
“MLF breached that duty by, inter alia, failing to provide clear directional zones, vessel spacing requirements, safety warnings, and by not implementing appropriate launch sequencing or enforcing speed regulations near other boaters,” the lawsuit says. Due to MLF’s “breach of duty,” the lawsuit says this resulted in the collision that then killed Broom.
Count 3- Vicarious Liability against MLF
This count says that MLF is “vicariously liable” for the negligent and wanton acts committed by Davis during the tournament, as he acted within his field of participation in the MLF tournament.
Count 4- Joint Venture against MLF
Count 4 also comes against MLF, saying that MLF and Davis were engaged in a joint venture to carry out a “common commercial purpose: Participation in and promotion of the MLF tournament for shared financial benefit.”
The document says MLF had a level of control over Davis’s actions and derived benefit from his participation, satisfying the elements of joint venture. The lawsuit says Davis’s actions occurred within the scope of this joint venture, and MLF is therefore jointly and severally liable for the damages arising from those actions
Count 5- Negligent Hiring, Training and Supervision against MLF
Against MLF, this count says the organization failed to adequately screen Davis’ “boating competency, experience, or disciplinary history, and by failing to train or instruct him on safety protocols and tournament navigation procedures.”
It also claims MLF failed to supervise Davis during the course of the tournament to prevent harm to others, resulting in the death of Broom.
Count 6- Negligence and Wanton (deliberate and unprovoked) Misconduct against Gary Holcombe
This count goes against Holcombe, the driver of the Center Console boat. The lawsuit says Holcombe had a duty to operate the boat with reasonable care that did not “endanger others.”
The lawsuit says Holcombe “breached his duty by operating or allowing the operation of a vessel in a negligent and/or wanton manner, including but not limited to, unsafe speeds, failure to maintain proper lookout, or creating navigational hazards that contributed to the fatal collision, and the negligence and/or wanton misconduct combined and concurred with the negligence and/or wanton misconduct of other defendants to cause the death.”
The document says that for this, Holcombe’s actions demonstrated a conscious “disregard” for the safety of others, including Broom.
Count 7- Wrongful Death against all defendants
Against all the defendants, the family of Broom says it “demands judgment against the Defendants, jointly and severally, including fictitious party Defendants, and requests that the jury selected to hear this case render a verdict for the Plaintiff and against each Defendant in a sum inexcess of the jurisdictional limits of this Court, in an amount which is adequate to reflect the enormity of the Defendants’ wrongful acts and which will deter and/or prevent other similar or wrongful acts, together with interest from the date of the incident, attorneys’ fees, and the costs of the proceeding.”
The lawsuit also names 13 fictitious defendants, which claims that the negligence of all the defendants, combined and concurred, caused Broom’s death.
You can read the full lawsuit filed below.
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