Employee Who Was Injured When He Fell From A Ladder In A Drydock Facility Held Not To Be A Seaman And, As Such, Employer Could Remove Case From State Court To Federal Court Because Case Could Not Proceed Under The Jones Act
TROY HOGANS v. ELMWOOD MARINE SERVICES, INC.
CIVIL ACTION NO. 03-0845 SECTION "T"(5)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11432
June 19, 2003, Decided
June 20, 2003, Filed, Entered
DISPOSITION: Plaintiff's Motion to Remand denied. Request for Attorney's fees denied.
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff employee filed a negligence action in the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans (Louisiana), seeking damages from defendant employer. The employer removed the action to federal district court, claiming diversity of citizenship jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.S. § 1332, and the employee filed a motion, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.S. § 1447(c), seeking an order remanding the case to state court.
OVERVIEW: An employee was injured when he fell from a ladder while working at a dry dock facility, and he filed an action in state court against his employer, alleging negligence. The employer removed the action to federal district court, claiming that the federal court had diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. The employee agreed that there was diversity of citizenship jurisdiction but argued that the case was not removable because it was filed under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.S. § 688 (recodified as 46 U.S.C.S. app. § 688). The federal district court held that (1) a dry dock was not a vessel for purposes of establishing seaman status under the Jones Act; and (2) because the employee had no reasonable possibility of establishing a Jones Act claim and removal based on diversity jurisdiction by the employer was proper, the court would deny the employee's motion to remand the case to state court.
OUTCOME: The court denied the employee's motion to remand the case to state court.
