Wyoming Jury Awards $5.19 Million to Oilfield Worker Maimed When Pressurized Well Component Ejected Into His Arm

On April 11, 2011, Blake Horr was working for Basic Energy Services, Inc. at a Merit Energy well in the Lost Soldier Unit near Bairoil, Wyoming. The crew had been directed to perform a work-over operation, a routine maintenance procedure that involves pulling components from the wellbore. What should have been a standard job turned dangerous because of a decision made by Merit's on-site supervisor, known in the industry as the 'company man.'

The well was a CO2-injected production well. Before any work-over can safely proceed, trapped pressure between the blowout preventer stack and the rubber wellhead components must be bled off. Merit's company man ordered the crew to begin work without verifying the well was safe. The pressure was still there.

When the crew attempted to remove a rubber wellhead component, the trapped pressure fired it out of the well. It struck Horr's left hand and arm at high velocity, shattering bones and severing nerves. The injuries were serious and permanent.

Horr filed suit against Merit in the District Court of Sweetwater County (Case CV-2012-584-L), arguing that Merit retained control over the critical safety decision that caused the incident. G. Bryan Ulmer III of The Spence Law Firm, together with associate Grant Lawson, represented Horr at trial. The central issue was whether Merit, as the company that directed the work, bore responsibility for the conditions that made it dangerous, even though Horr was employed by an independent contractor.

On July 9, 2014, the jury returned a verdict of $5.19 million. It apportioned fault at 45 percent to Merit Energy, 45 percent to Basic Energy Services, and 10 percent to Horr. Merit's share of the judgment came to more than $2.3 million.

Merit appealed, contesting the jury instructions and the denial of its motion for judgment as a matter of law. In January 2016, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court's judgment in full (Merit Energy Co., LLC v. Horr, 2016 WY 3). The court held that the district court correctly instructed the jury to decide whether Merit retained control over the part of the work that caused Horr's injury, and that the evidence supported the jury's conclusion that it had. The damages award was not disturbed.