Summary Judgment Granted Against Tankerman Due To Lack Of Evidence
JAMES BAILEY, Plaintiff, -against- SEABOARD BARGECORPORATION, PETROLEUM TRANSPORT CORPORATION, MORAN TOWING CORPORATION, CLEANWATER OF NEW YORK, INC., MARINERS HARBOR MARINE CORP., and EGRET REALTY CORP., Defendants.
03 CV 0267 (GBD)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2860
February 25, 2005, Decided
February 25, 2005, Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff, a tankerman, brought claims under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.S. app. § 688, against his employer, a barge owner, and their parent corporation, and brought common law negligence claims against a barge docking facility owner and its operator, following injuries he sustained while attempting to board his employer's barge. The employer, owners, and operator moved for summary judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56.
OVERVIEW: The tankerman claimed that the facility owner and its operator failed to provide a safe means for him to access the barge he was assigned to work on. The court held that the tankerman's negligence claims failed because there was no evidence that the facility owner or its operator breached their duty of reasonable care or that any such breach was the proximate cause of the tankerman's injuries. The court found that there was no evidence that the barge docking facility was inherently unsafe or that the tankerman was not warned of any hidden dangers, and that the tankerman's injuries occurred on mothballed barges adjacent to the docking facility's property which he chose, of his own volition, to walk through. The court further held that the tankerman's Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.S. app. § 688, claims failed because there was no evidence that the employer or barge owner failed to provide a safe and available way to get from the shore to the barge. The court found that a safe route was available to the barge, and that the tankerman was injured as a result of his decision to board the barge through mothballed barges, which were not owned, operated, or controlled by the employer or barge owner.
OUTCOME: The motions for summary judgment were granted. The tankerman's claims against the employer, owners, and operator were dismissed.
