EVEN THOUGH JONES ACT AND UNSEAWORTHINESS CLAIMS REJECTED GENERAL NEGLIGENCE CLAIM REMAINED.
TERRY SPEER, Plaintiff, v. TAIRA LYNN MARINE, LTD., INC.,AND HOLLYWOOD MARINE, INC., Defendants.
CIVIL ACTION NO. G-99-716
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, GALVESTON DIVISION
116 F. Supp. 2d 826; 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15576
October 11, 2000, Decided
October 13, 2000, Entered
OVERVIEW: Plaintiff seaman suffered a heart attack while training on a derelict moored barge. He sued defendants, marine companies, under the Jones Act and for unseaworthiness and general negligence. The defendant marine company who was not his employer but owner of the barge moved for summary judgment. The motion was granted in part and denied. The court granted the motion as it applied to plaintiff's Jones Act claim because under the act, plaintiff had to establish an employee-employer relationship which he could not do. The court rejected plaintiff's argument that the defendant was imbued with the same duty of care as his employer. Summary judgment was granted against the unseaworthiness claim because plaintiff was not a member of the crew of the vessel when he suffered the heart attack. The court rejected the argument that defendant was an agent of his employer and owed him a duty of seaworthiness. The court denied the motion with regards to the general negligence claim because discovery was still going on and the status of the barge was still disputed.
OUTCOME: The motion was granted in part and denied part. The court granted the motion as to plaintiff's Jones Act claim because plaintiff was not defendant's employee and as to plaintiff's unseaworthiness claim because defendant did not owe plaintiff any duty since he as not a member of the crew. The court denied the motion as to plaintiff's general negligence because discovery was still going on and the training barge's status was disputed
