A Massachusetts woman has filed a personal injury lawsuit against a ferry service provider after suffering multiple injuries in a 2019 crash.

Jessica Hicks filed her lawsuit against Steamship Authority for injuries she sustained while riding on the ferry servicer’s vessel, the MV Eagle. According to the Cape Cod Times, Hicks was en route from Hyannis to Nantucket when the vessel collided with a concrete barrier. As a result of the collision, Hicks alleges that she was “thrown down a vessel stairway to the lower deck below.” Due to the fall, Hicks details that she injured her right thumb. Hicks explains in her complaint that her thumb injury required long-term splints and casts along with physical therapy. The injury caused her reduced function in her right hand and thumb. And because of the fall, she also suffered persistent back pain.

Hicks details in her complaint that she incurred over $33,000 in medical bills. Also, because of her injuries, Hicks contends that she was unable to work at her jewelry business for an extended period. She claims that because of her missed work, she lost wages and earning capacity to the tune of roughly $30,000.

In her lawsuit, Hicks is also seeking $250,000 in damages due to the loss of function in her right hand, continued pain, and emotional distress.

Her lawsuit claims motor vehicle negligence which resulted in her personal injury. She is represented by Gary Orlacchio at Boston law. Neither Orlacchio nor Steamship Authority has offered comments on the pending litigation.

Hicks’ complaint comes on the heels of a settlement in a similar suit. In July 2021, Steamship Authority settled with all claimants of a lawsuit that was filed after a high-speed ferry struck a breakwater in 2017. The ferry was traveling on a rainy evening when at about 9:30, the ferry struck a 3,000 ft rock breakwater.

The breakwater was struck after ferry Capitan Karl Riddar mistook the breakwater lights as upcoming buoys on the radar. As a result of the accident, 15 people were injured, although 17 individuals brought forward claims.

In that case, the federal judge ruled that the ferry servicer was negligent in the crash. While a jury trial was set to begin that May 13, a majority of the claimants had already settled. As part of the settlement, the parties agreed not to disclose the details of the settlement.