Shade v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 97-2023

Citation154 F.3d 143
Decision Date03 September 1998
Docket NumberNo. 97-2023,97-2023
PartiesJohn D. SHADE v. GREAT LAKES DREDGE & DOCK COMPANY, Appellant.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)

Robert B. White, Jr. (argued), Rapp, White, Janssen & German, P.C., Philadelphia, PA, for Appellant.

Marvin I. Barish (argued), Marvin I. Barish Law Offices, P.C., Philadelphia, PA, for Appellee.

Before: GREENBERG, SCIRICA, and McKEE, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

GREENBERG, Circuit Judge.

I. JURISDICTION

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company appeals from a final judgment entered in favor of appellee, John D. Shade, on October 22, 1997, pursuant to a jury verdict for Shade in the amount of $870,000, and from the denial of its renewed motion to alter or amend the judgment, or, in the alternative, for a new trial entered on November 19, 1997. The district court had jurisdiction over this case under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, and this court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded Great Lakes a contract to dredge and renourish the beach at Cape May, New Jersey, which Great Lakes began performing on November 12, 1994. This project consisted of removing sand from the ocean floor at offshore locations and transferring the sand to the beach through 6600 feet of steel pipe, known as the submersible line. See app. at 637-40. The dredge Long Island removed the sand from the ocean floor; and once its hopper compartments were full, the tug Conlon propelled the dredge to a self-contained offshore transfer station buoy ("scots buoy"), a large round floating buoy secured by four anchors. See id. at 337, 689. In order to transport the sand to the beach, the dredge would secure itself to a pipe attached to the scots buoy which in turn was connected to the submersible line. The dredge then would pump its load of sand into the pipe and through the submersible line. Upon reaching the beach, the submersible line ended at a "Y" valve. This valve, which controlled the flow of the sand, connected the submersible line to an additional line, known as the shore line, extending in both directions along the beach parallel to the ocean. As the sand flowed out of either end of the shore line, bulldozers positioned the sand on the beach according to a predetermined plan.

Shade arrived at the Cape May worksite on the night of December 8, 1994, and began to work for Great Lakes at the site on December 9, 1994. See id. at 472. Since 1974, Shade had been employed by various companies to assist in such dredging projects; and in the four years prior to his injury, the majority of his work had been with Great Lakes. See id. at 468-69. Shade received his work assignments through his union, Local 25, Marine Division, International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO. When he was unemployed, Shade would place his name on the out-of-work list until Local 25 assigned him to a new job. See id. at 346-48, 519-20.

Great Lakes previously employed Shade from September 1992 until February 1994. See id. at 54-55, 509-10. However, beginning in March 1994, Shade worked for Bean-Weeks Joint Venture, another dredging contractor, as a deckhand. See id. at 55, 510. Bean-Weeks subsequently fired Shade, and he remained without work until Great Lakes hired him for the Cape May job.

Great Lakes asserted that it hired Shade for Cape May as a shoreman, see id. at 648, pursuant to its contract with Local 25 which mandated the hiring of a shoreman for this type of job. See id. at 69, 684-87. In fact, Great Lakes' superintendent, David P. Rappe, and the Local 25 union steward, Cecil C. Jackson, Sr., both testified that Great Lakes hired Shade as a shoreman. See id. at 687, 794; see also id. at 648 (testimony of deck captain James D. Joyner), 772-73 (testimony of shoreman Joseph H. Gurganus).

Shade, on the other hand, contended that Great Lakes hired him as a deckhand assigned to the anchor barge 110, which assisted in the dredging operation, see id. at 479, and that the shore gang was already in place when he arrived to work at Cape May. See id. at 472. Both Shade and his supervisor, Mark Oldham, testified that he was employed primarily on the navigable waters off Cape May. See id. at 316-17, 473-84. In fact, Oldham testified that Shade was on the water 90% of the time that he worked at the Cape May project. See id. at 316-17.

When Shade arrived at Cape May, the submersible line had been laid, the scots buoy was in place, and the Long Island had begun to dig the first portion of sand from the ocean floor. See id. at 473, 642-43, 681-83, 793-94. The dredge filled its hoppers and connected to the scots buoy, but it was not able to pump the sand to the beach because of a hole in the submersible line. See id. at 157. As a result, from December 9th, when Shade began to work at Cape May, until the early morning hours of December 13th, Shade worked on the water assisting in the repair of the submersible line, see id. at 690-92, while assigned to anchor barge 110. See id. at 473-75.

After the workers completed the repair of the submersible line, the Long Island once again had the capacity to pump sand to the beach. However, between December 13th and December 30th, the dredge only operated from the evening of December 19th until December 22nd and from the evening of December 25th until December 30th because of poor weather conditions. See id. at 249-66, 694-99. Great Lakes presented evidence that during the periods of bad weather, Shade remained on the beach, assisting welders and waiting on standby in case the weather cleared. See id. at 601-02, 699-700, 745-46. Shade, on the other hand, contended that during poor weather he would work in the harbor which was protected from the rough seas. See id. at 311-14. For instance, Shade testified that he helped construct a second submersible line, see id. at 480, and assisted in repairing the scots buoy. See id. at 558-59; see also id. at 305-15 (testimony of Oldham).

Great Lakes offered testimony that when the dredge was able to pump sand to the beach, Shade performed the work of a shoreman on the beach. See id. at 695-99. For example, Shade assisted welders in securing the shore line, operated the "Y" valve, and put fuel in welding machines. See id. at 536-37, 769. Shade disputed Great Lakes' account of his work between December 19th and December 22nd, and testified that he worked on the water during that period. See id. at 556. However, he did not dispute that he primarily worked on the beach performing these shore based duties from December 25th until December 30th. See id.

While working on the beach on December 30th, Shade assisted Oldham in refueling a welding machine, a procedure which required lifting the machine with a front-end loader. See id. at 485-87. While Oldham was operating the loader, the raised claw of the loader dropped unexpectedly and severed Shade's thumb. See id. at 486-88. Shade testified that even though doctors were able to reattach his thumb, see id. at 491, he basically has no use of the thumb, see id. at 501-02, and could not return to work in his prior capacity. See id. at 502-03.

After initially receiving benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq. ("LHWCA"), Shade filed a complaint against Great Lakes on January 31, 1997, seeking damages under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. app. § 688(a), and the general maritime law doctrine of unseaworthiness. On September 8, 1997, Great Lakes filed a motion for summary judgment on the ground that Shade was not a seaman. The district court denied this motion without opinion on September 24, 1997. On October 7, 1997, Great Lakes filed a motion in limine to preclude testimony at trial regarding Shade's prior employment with Great Lakes. The district court, however, deferred ruling on the motion and at the trial ultimately permitted Shade to introduce evidence of his prior employment. See app. at 54-55, 509-10.

A jury trial began on October 14, 1997, solely on the Jones Act claim. At the conclusion of the presentation of Shade's evidence, Great Lakes moved under Fed.R.Civ.P. 50 for a judgment as a matter of law on the ground that the evidence did not establish that Shade was a seaman at the time of his injury. See app. at 41, 589. However, the district court deferred ruling on that motion. See id. at 589. Great Lakes renewed its Rule 50 motion at the conclusion of all of the evidence, see id. at 45, 844; and again, the district court deferred its ruling. See id. at 844.

The district court submitted a series of special interrogatories to the jury; and on October 21, 1997, the jury found that Shade was a seaman, and returned a verdict in his favor in the amount of $870,000. See id. at 946-47. Pursuant to this verdict, the district court entered judgment against Great Lakes on October 22, 1997. See id. at 7. Great Lakes subsequently filed a renewed motion to alter or amend the judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b), or, in the alternative, for a new trial under Fed.R.Civ.P. 59. See app. at 7. However, the district court denied this motion on November 19, 1997, and Great Lakes filed its timely notice of appeal on December 18, 1997. See id. at 7, 9.

III. DISCUSSION
A. Jones Act Seaman Status

The Jones Act provides that "[a]ny seaman who shall suffer personal injury in the course of his employment may, at his election, maintain an action for damages at law, with the right of trial by jury." 46 U.S.C. app. § 688(a). However, the Jones Act does not define the critical term "seaman" and thus "leaves to the courts the determination of exactly which maritime workers are entitled to admiralty's special protection." Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 515 U.S. 347, 355, 115 S.Ct. 2172, 2183, 132 L.Ed.2d 314 (1995). In a recent series of opinions, the Supreme Court has clarified this definition and has provided guidance as to how courts are to...

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