Cruise Ship Law

INLAND DREDGING, In the Matter of the Complaint of Inland Dredging Company,
LLC, Owner and Operator of the M/V Ms Paula, for Exoneration from Limitation or
Liability, Plaintiff-Appellee v. RICARDO SANCHEZ, Claimant-Appellant
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 26899
October 27, 2006, Filed

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellee dredging company filed a limitation of liability action pursuant to the Limitation of Liability Act (Limitation Act), 46 U.S.C.S. app. § 185, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi and obtained an injunction. Appellant allegedly injured seaman appealed the injunction, which prevented him from proceeding with his Jones Act case against the dredging company in another federal district court.

OVERVIEW: The seaman contended that as a single claimant who had filed a stipulation that protected the shipowner's rights to limitation of liability, he should be allowed to proceed with his claims in his chosen forum. The dredging company argued that since the seaman pursued remedies in a federal court sitting in admiralty, rather than a common law state court, he was restricted to litigating all issues before the current federal district court. The appellate court did not find anything in the Limitation Act's text, legislative history, or United States Supreme Court's opinions that led it to conclude that only where the Limitation Act and the saving to suitors clause conflict was it appropriate for the limitation court to dissolve its injunction and allow the claimant to proceed in a different forum. To allow the district court to continue to restrain the seaman from pursuing his case in another federal district court would turn the Limitations Act into an offensive instrument to cut off his traditional right to choose his forum.

OUTCOME: The injunction was vacated.