Dodge City ? A man who was allegedly injured last year while driving a stagecoach for Boot Hill Museum has filed a civil lawsuit against the museum.

In the lawsuit filed last week in Ford County District Court, former stagecoach driver John Emerson is seeking at least $50,000 in damages.

Emerson said he discovered that the museum’s stagecoach and equipment were unsafe and reported the problem to museum officials.

But the museum failed to repair the defective equipment and instructed Emerson to continue driving the stagecoach, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit named Boot Hill Museum Inc. as the only defendant and does not mention specific museum officials.

Emerson was a stagecoach driver for the museum for about a month, starting in June 2001. He was not a museum employee, but was paid by the Hutchinson-based Bronc Rumford Rodeo Co.

He was injured when he lost control of the horses and the floor beneath him collapsed.

He said he fell underneath the coach, and the wheel ran over his right femur about 2 inches from his hipbone. The femur in Emerson’s right leg was broken and his right leg was covered with bruises, he said.

He had no complications from surgery on the broken femur, but he is still in pain.

Since he was not a museum employee, he did not file a worker’s compensation claim against the museum, nor was he covered under either the museum’s or Bronc Rumford’s health insurance.

The museum’s interim general manager, Gloria Barngrover, declined to comment and referred calls to the museum’s board of directors.