VALIDITY OF SEAMAN'S RELEASE ISSUE OF FACT.
MICHAEL C. PETTY, Plaintiff, v. ODYSSEA VESSELS, INC.,ODYSSEA MARINE, INC., ODYSSEA MARINE GROUP, L.L.C., HORIZON OFFSHORE, INC.,HORIZON OFFSHORE CONTRACTORS, INC. and HORIZON VESSELS, INC., Defendants.
CIVIL ACTION NO. G-00-046
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, GALVESTON DIVISION
115 F. Supp. 2d 768; 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15559
October 11, 2000, Decided
October 11, 2000, Entered
OVERVIEW: Plaintiff seaman sued defendants, marine companies, for personal injury following a fire at sea. Defendants paid plaintiff maintenance and cure for eight months and then called him to Houston to execute a release of all claims and an indemnity agreement. Plaintiff signed and defendants moved for summary judgment. Plaintiff argued that he lacked the mental capacity to enter into a valid agreement and that defendants had overreached and coerced plaintiff. The summary judgment was denied. The court treated plaintiff as a "ward of the admiralty" and carefully scrutinized the agreement. The court found that there were genuine issues of material fact as to whether the release and indemnity agreement had been coerced from plaintiff. Specifically, defendants had questioned plaintiff's credibility. Credibility was an issue to be determined by the trier of fact. In addition, the court looked at the facts alleged by plaintiff that could establish both coercion and lack of mental capacity to sign the documents.
OUTCOME: Motion was denied. The court found that there were genuine issues of material fact regarding whether defendants had overreached themselves and had coerced plaintiff into signing the release.
