SHIPOWNER'S PETITION FOR EXONERATION FROM AND/OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY DENIED IN SEAMAN'S ACTION FOR NEGLIGENCE AND UNSEAWORTHINESS WHERE SHIPOWNER HAD PRIVITY AND KNOWLEDGE OF UNSEAWORTHY CONDITION.
RANDALL CUNNINGHAM VERSUS NOBLE DRILLING, CORPORATION
CIVIL ACTION NO. 01-2766 SECTION "K" (2)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21983
November 12, 2002, Filed, Entered
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Defendant, off-shore drilling company, moved to adjust a damage award. A jury awarded plaintiff, seaman $25,000 for injuries he suffered while working on the drilling company's rig. The seaman claimed that the company's negligence and the unseaworthy conditions on the vessel were the causes of his injuries. He also claimed maintenance and cure.
OVERVIEW: The jury actually awarded $150,000 in damages, but found the seaman was 75 percent at fault, hence the $25,000 for past lost income. The jury made no award for maintenance. In advance of trial, the parties stipulated that the drilling company had paid $8,119.56 in maintenance and $9,120.32 in supplemental wages and/or advances. In its motion, the drilling company argued that because the parties stipulated to the amount of maintenance and supplemental wages and/or advances, the sum of these payments, $17,239.88, should be deducted from the total award for past lost income. The court agreed. The company also contended that the court should offset the stipulated $8,119.56 in maintenance payments against the award for past lost income. The company argued that the seaman could not recover maintenance plus wages for the identical period of time. Unlike the payments of advances and/or supplemental income, the court found that the award of maintenance in addition to past income was not duplicative of the jury's award for past loss of income. The company was not entitled to offset the paid maintenance from the past-income award.
OUTCOME: From the jury's original award of $25,000 in damages, the district court reduced the award by $9,120.32, the stipulated amount of advances and supplemental wages. Consequently, the revised award for past lost income, as offset by the payments of advances in the amount of $9,120.32, was 15,879.68.
