A Washington-based company, Electroimpact Inc., has filed a motion to dismiss certain maritime claims brought by the family of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, one of the victims of the Titan submersible implosion during its 2023 voyage to the Titanic wreck. The company argues that the claims under the Jones Act, which regulates U.S. maritime commerce, are invalid because Nargeolet was not an employee of Electroimpact.
Nargeolet’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in August, seeking $50 million in damages from OceanGate Inc., the sub’s owner and operator, for allegedly concealing the vessel’s flaws before the deadly implosion. The estate of OceanGate CEO Richard Stockton Rush III, who also died in the June 2023 expedition, is also named in the suit. The family additionally sued Electroimpact and other companies involved in the design, engineering, and manufacturing of the Titan submersible.
In its motion to dismiss, Electroimpact asserts that Nargeolet, an experienced ocean explorer who was a member of the first expedition to the Titanic in 1987, was an employee of OceanGate, not Electroimpact. The company argues that the Jones Act only applies to claims where there is an employer-employee relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant, and Nargeolet was not employed by Electroimpact. According to the motion, Electroimpact neither paid, supervised, nor had the authority to hire or fire Nargeolet.
