Seaman Injured By Chair That Collapsed Entitled To Recover From His Employer, Chair Seller And Chair Manufacturer
DELMA J. DAIGLE VERSUS L & L MARINE TRANS. CO.
CIVIL ACTION NO. 02-2325 SECTION "L"(5)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10958
June 14, 2004, Decided
June 14, 2004, Filed
June 15, 2004, Entered
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff, a former ship employee, sued defendants, a ship owner and its insurer, under, inter alia, the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.S. app. ยง 688 et seq., and general maritime law for damages he sustained when a captain's chair collapsed under him. The owner filed a third-party complaint against third-party defendants, the captain's chair pedestal's seller and its manufacturer. A bench trial ensued.
OVERVIEW: The seller claimed that it was not strictly liable for the faulty chair pedestal because it was merely a middle-man seller. The court initially held that the owner was liable to the employee under the Jones Act because it had actual or constructive notice, through its employees, of the unsafe condition of the ship's captain's chair and failed to correct the unsafe condition, and that the owner was not entitled to limit its liability to the amount of the vessel because it failed to prove lack of privity and knowledge of the unsafe condition. The court further held that the employee established his unseaworthiness claim against the owner because the captain's chair collapsed when put to its normal and intended use causing injuries to the employee, but that the owner was entitled to indemnity from the seller and the manufacturer. The court then held that the seller was liable for the majority of the employee's damages because it failed to warn of the dangers involved in adjusting the leveling mounts on the pedestal, and that the manufacturer was comparatively liable for the employee's damages due to its expertise concerning metals and construction.
OUTCOME: The employee was entitled to joint and several recovery for his damages and pre- and post-judgment interest from the owner, its insurer, the seller, and the manufacturer.
