Cruise Ship Law

DANIEL C. PRICE, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CONNOLLY-PACIFIC CO., Defendant and Respondent.

COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION SEVEN
2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 695
May 13, 2008, Filed

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: After his employment was terminated, plaintiff commuter seaman, who suffered from a vector-borne sickness known as West Nile Virus as a result of being bitten by mosquitoes, sued defendant barge owner, contending that he was entitled to "maintenance and cure." The Los Angeles County Superior Court, California, entered judgment for the owner, finding that the seaman failed to carry his burden of proof. The seaman appealed.



OVERVIEW: The seaman worked on board the barge owner's derrick barge five days a week. Because the seaman's home was so far from the job site, the owner gave the seaman permission to park his camper truck in its parking lot near the job site so he could live there during the work week. The court concluded that the seaman was not entitled to receive maintenance and cure under the Ship Owner's Liability Convention. The stipulated scientific evidence that was presented at trial indicated that the seaman was far more likely infected with the disease at night while he was camping out in the owner's parking lot than during the day while working on the barge. While spending the night in his camper in the parking lot, the seaman was under no obligation to perform any services for the owner and was not in any way answerability to the "call of duty." That the seaman's illness may have been contracted between the date he was hired and the date his employment on the barge ended did not justify an award of maintenance and cure. The owner's generosity in allowing the seaman to use his camper in its parking lot, without more, was an insufficient basis on which to award him maintenance and cure.



OUTCOME: The judgment was affirmed.