SHIP OWNER NOT NEGLIGENT FOR REQUIRING SEAMAN TO LIFT 31-POUND MOTOR
THOMAS E. JOHNSON VERSUS LAWSON & LAWSON TOWING COMPANY,INC.
CIVIL ACTION NO. 00-0629 SECTION "R"(2)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14607
September 14, 2001, Decided
September 14, 2001, Filed, Entered
DISPOSITION: [*1] Plaintiff's motion for reconsideration denied.
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff, injured party, moved for reconsideration of orders granting summary judgment to defendants, on a finding that making plaintiff lift a 31 pound motor was not negligent as a matter of law, and denying a deferral of summary judgment pending further discovery.
OVERVIEW: Plaintiff argued that the court misconstrued the factual basis for plaintiff's injury, which he claimed was not caused by the initial lifting of the motor, but instead when he awkwardly contorted his body to install the motor. The court found that plaintiff had the evidence of the new mechanics of the injury before the court's order dismissing the claims. Plaintiff had been the only witness to the accident, he had not advanced the new theory before, and he had specifically denied it was the cause of his injury. As to the order refusing to defer summary judgment, plaintiff offered no basis for doing so. Nothing demonstrated that his motion for reconsideration was necessary to correct a manifest error of fact or law, to present newly discovered or previously unavailable evidence, to prevent manifest injustice, or to consider an intervening change in the controlling law.
OUTCOME: The court denied plaintiff's motion to reconsider.
