Charter service challenging wrongful death suit

SANDPOINT — The family of an Illinois woman who was seriously injured after a fishing trip on Lake Pend Oreille has filed a wrongful death suit against the charter service.

Counsel for Diamond Charters in Hope contend the allegations are baseless and a vigorous defense is in the works.

Attorneys representing the husband and daughter of Marie C. Masliotti allege the woman died of a leg injury she sustained while attempting to disembark from Diamond Charters’ fishing boat on April 28, 2006.

Masliotti, 80, slipped between the dock and the boat, which resulted in a “serious degloving injury” to her leg, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys, Starr Kelso of Coeur d’Alene and John Bardelli of Spokane, Wash., blame the fall on steps that were used to get Masliotti off the boat.

“The boat contained a set of inadequate and unsafe steps without any associated handrail to steady a user’s balance in the event one lost his or her balance and needed something to grab to avoid falling and sustaining an injury,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys said in the 21-page civil complaint.

The complaint further alleges there was no sign warning that the steps were unsafe and that charter operators did not help Masliotti negotiate them.

Diamond Charters’ owner and skipper, Ed Dickson, declined to comment at the advice of legal counsel.

“Obviously the complaint’s nothing but groundless allegations against Mr. Dickson and the complaint, from our perspective, amounts to a frivolous lawsuit,” said Sal Pellegrino, a Chicago attorney representing Dickson in the case.

Pellegrino said the defense will also “explore all potential avenues of affirmative relief,” such as filing a cross complaint against the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit against Diamond Charters seeks unspecified damages on behalf of Paul Masliotti and Donna Lorenz, Marie Masliotti’s husband and daughter.

The suit indicated Marie Masliotti was treated at Bonner General Hospital after the accident. She returned to the Midwest and underwent additional hospitalization, according to the suit.

Marie Masliotti was eventually placed into a nursing home and later died, the suit said. The plaintiffs’ counsel argues the injuries the she sustained in the fall ultimately caused her death on Aug. 15, 2006.