Cruise Ship Law

Robert N. Britton, Plaintiff, v. U.S.S. Great Lakes Fleet, Inc., Defendant.

Civ. File No. 00-2160 (PAM/RLE)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA
2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17804
October 15, 2001, Decided

DISPOSITION: [*1] Defendant's motion for summary judgment was granted. Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment was denied.

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Suing under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.S. app. § 688, under general maritime law, and for alleged medical malpractice, plaintiff seaman sought to impose liability on defendant owner for injuries the seaman suffered while working on the owner's vessel. The seaman moved for partial summary judgment on the owner's affirmative defense. The owner moved for summary judgment.

OVERVIEW: The seaman alleged the owner violated the Jones Act and failed to ensure the owner's ship was seaworthy by failing to have enough crewmembers on deck the day the seaman was injured. Asserting an affirmative defense, the owner stated that the seaman failed to report a prior back injury. Regarding the seaman's motion, the owner offered evidence that the seaman failed to report his prior injury. Whether the owner would have hired the seaman even if he had disclosed the injury was of no moment in determining whether genuine issues of material fact existed about the affirmative defense. Regarding the owner's motion, the seaman's own testimony was the only evidence he offered to prove the owner's alleged negligence and the unseaworthiness of the vessel. That testimony, the court held, was insufficient to create a genuine fact dispute. The seaman failed to rebut the owner's evidence that the seaman failed to disclose his prior back injury. The seaman's omission defeated his claim for maintenance and cure. Finally, assuming the owner could be liable for its designated physician's acts, the seaman offered no evidence of malpractice.

OUTCOME: The court denied the seaman's motion for partial summary judgment and granted the owner's summary judgment motion.