Summary Granted Against Seaman Status For Shoreside Mechanic
CHRISTOPHER SAIENNI versus CAPITAL MARINE SUPPLY, INC., ET AL
CIVIL ACTION No. 03-2509 SECTION I/2
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OFLOUISIANA
2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6928
April 18, 2005, Decided
April 18, 2005, Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff worker who repaired vessels sued defendant employers under the Jones Act, alleging that the employers were liable for injuries sustained by the worker on one of the employer's vessels. The employers moved for summary judgment on the ground that the worker was not a seaman for purposes of the Jones Act.
OVERVIEW: The worker's job title was shoreside mechanic and the worker's daily duties included performing preventive maintenance, coordinating repairs, and performing mechanical and electrical repairs aboard the employers' vessels and at a land-based facility. The worker contended that he was a seaman under the Jones Act based on his contribution to the function of the employers' fleet, but the employers asserted that the worker had an insufficient connection to the fleet to be considered a seaman. The court held that, while the worker spent a significant amount of time aboard the employers' vessels, the nature of the worker's function of performing land-based repairs of the vessels could not be deemed to confer seaman status. The worker was a shoreside mechanic operating out of a land-based fleeting facility, the worker's repairs aboard the vessels generally occurred while the vessels were moored at stationary locations, and the worker did not sleep aboard the vessels when performing repairs which required an overnight stay. Moreover, the worker's job was not of a seagoing nature and involved only sporadic exposure to the perils of the sea.
OUTCOME: The employers' motion for summary judgment was granted.
