A LIFEBOAT, ALTHOUGH NOT UNDER SAIL, WAS A VESSEL ON NAVIGABLE WATERS AND FAILING TO PROVIDE A SAFE WORKPLACE ABOARD A VESSEL WAS A MARITIME TORT FOR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS PURPOSES.
Alan Strong, etc.; et Al. Plaintiffs, Alan Strong, Individually and in His Capacity as Administrator on Behalf of Lindsey Strong Estate, on Behalf of Chelsey Strong Estate, Plaintiff-Appellee, VERSUS B.P. Exploration & Production, Inc., Defendant-Appellant.
No. 05-30153
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
440 F.3d 665; 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 3542
February 15, 2006, Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant corporation sought review of an order from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, which denied the corporation's motion for summary judgment in a suit by appellees, an oil well worker, his wife, and his minor children, to recover damages associated with an injury that the worker sustained when plugging an oil well owned by the corporation's predecessor in interest.
OVERVIEW: The worker and his crew were transported to the predecessor's oil platform in a utility boat. A lifeboat was jacked up next to the platform to provide additional work space, but it was cluttered with equipment. In trying to load some toolboxes under cluttered conditions, the worker alleged that he sustained a back injury. The corporation alleged that the three-year statute of limitations in 46 U.S.C.S. app. § 763a precluded the claim. The worker alleged that state law, as incorporated by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, governed the claim, and thus, the claim was timely because Louisiana's one-year statute of limitations was tolled while the worker received benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. The court held that the three-year statute of limitations in 46 U.S.C.S. app. § 763a was applicable because federal maritime law applied of its own force in this case. The court reasoned that the lifeboat, although jacked up and not under sail, was a vessel on navigable waters and that failing to provide a safe workplace aboard a vessel was a maritime tort. Because federal maritime law applied of its own force, the state tolling provision did not apply.
OUTCOME: The court reversed the district court's order and remanded the matter so that the district court could enter summary judgment for the corporation.
