THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT AFFIRMED ITS' PRIOR RULING IN HINES, WHICH PERMITS A SEAMAN TO RECOVER PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHEN AN EMPLOYER ARBITRARILY AND WILLFULLY REFUSES TO PAY MAINTENANCE AND CURE.
ATLANTIC SOUNDING CO., INC., WEEKS MARINE, INC., Plaintiffs-Counter-Defendants-Appellants, versus EDGAR L. TOWNSEND, Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellee, THOMAS KIMBROUGH, Defendant.
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 20078
August 23, 2007, Decided
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: In this interlocutory appeal, Plaintiffs-Appellants Atlantic Sounding Co., Inc., appeal the district court's denial of Plaintiffs' motion to strike Defendant-Appellee Edgar L. Townsend's request for punitive damages.
OVERVIEW: The district court consolidated two actions: one based on a seaman's alleged shoulder injury and the other based on the seaman's employer's suit for declaratory relief on the question of their obligations in this matter. The district court concluded that it was bound by the 11th Circuit's prior panel decision in Hines v. J.A. LaPorte, Inc., 820 F.2d 1187 (11th Cir. 1987), which permits a seaman to recover punitive damages when an employer arbitrarily and willfully refuses to pay maintenance and cure. Plaintiffs contend that Hines was abrogated by Miles v. Apex Marine Corp., 498 U.S. 19, 111 S. Ct. 317, 112 L. Ed. 2d 275 (1990), in which the Supreme Court concluded that recovery for non-pecuniary loss in the wrongful death of a seaman was not available under general maritime law. The 11th Circuit held that this argument could only be based on the reasoning of the Miles opinion, not on the Miles decision itself.
OUTCOME: The Court concluded that their prior decision in Hines remains binding law in this Circuit.
