Gratton Lawsuit Filed
World champion offshore racer and throttleman for the Page Motorsports Skater, Joey Gratton died while racing at the 2011 Key West Offshore World Championships. Photo by Jamie RussellThe wrongful death lawsuit against Super Boat International and other defendants has been filed by attorney Michael Allweiss on behalf of Priscilla S. Gratton, the representative of the late Joseph B. Gratton, in the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, Florida. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages of “more than $15,000”—cases seeking lower damages are tried in civil courts in Florida—was filed Feb. 7.
Gratton drowned, according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s report, after the boat in which he was racing overturned on Friday, Nov. 11, during the Super Boat International Key West Offshore World Championships.
Allweiss said he had initially planned to file the lawsuit in early December. (Read the complete story.)
“The insurance company for Super Boat International asked us to refrain from doing so in exchange for cooperation with their investigation,” said Allweiss in a telephone interview this morning. “I provided them with information and they provided me with nothing. I gave them until February 6 and they failed to do anything, so on February 7 we filed a lawsuit in and for Broward County.”
When this story went live, John Carbonell, the founder and owner of Super Boat International, could not be reached at the office of the organization in Key West, Fla.
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