Attorneys Fees Awarded On Maintenance Claim Where No Payment Made For Over One Year
GENEVA MCCARTHY, Plaintiff, v. The F/T SEAFREEZE ALASKA, et al., Defendants.
Case No. C03-1189L
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20375; 2004 AMC 2107
August 9, 2004, Decided
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff seaman sought partial summary judgment in connection with her claim for maintenance from defendant corporations. The corporations sought to strike a declaration of the seaman's attorney. The seaman requested $2,500 in attorneys fees for filing the motion.
OVERVIEW: On July 5, 2000, the seaman was injured on board a ship. On September 19, 2001, an orthopedic surgeon diagnosed her with a herniated nucleus pulposus with chronic neck, right shoulder, and arm pain. The seaman's treating physician opined that her cervical disk herniation was related to the seaman's injury. Between September 19, 2001, and April 30, 2003, the corporations paid for the costs for the seaman's treatment, but the seaman's requests for maintenance were denied. The corporations asserted that the seaman injured her back in an earlier car crash. A second surgeon concluded that it was not possible to state that her symptoms were attributable to the on-board injury. The court held that there was no fact issue that precluded a declaration of liability for maintenance. The second surgeon's failure to make a statement as to causation did not create a factual dispute. If the corporations truly believed that the seaman's symptoms after September 19, 2001, were not their responsibility, they presumably would have refused to pay cure. The seaman was entitled to attorney's fees because they ignored the seaman's request for maintenance for over a year without explanation.
OUTCOME: The court denied the corporations' motion to strike, granted the seaman's motion for maintenance, and granted in part the seaman's motion for attorney's fees. The court excluded $500 in fees for which there was no evidence in support.
