Martin v. Harris

Citation560 F.3d 210
Decision Date11 March 2009
Docket NumberNo. 07-1610.,07-1610.
PartiesWilliam L. MARTIN, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Richard O. HARRIS, in personam; Cheryl P. Harris, in personam; The Oil Screw Fintastic, Official Number 587095, her engines, equipment, tackle and apparel, in rem, Defendants-Appellants.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

ARGUED: Bryan K. Meals, McGuirewoods, L.L.P., Norfolk, Virginia, for Appellants. Stevenson Lee Weeks, Sr., Wheatly, Wheatly, Weeks & Lupton, P.A., Beaufort, North Carolina, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Jonathan H. Edgar, McGuirewoods, L.L.P., Charlotte, North Carolina; William H. Baxter, II, McGuirewoods, L.L.P., Richmond, Virginia, for Appellants.

Before NIEMEYER and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and RICHARD L. VOORHEES, United States District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, sitting by designation.

Affirmed as modified by published opinion. Judge NIEMEYER wrote the opinion, in which Judge AGEE and Judge VOORHEES joined.

OPINION

NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge:

Shortly after 4:30 a.m. on May 31, 2002, before departing to sea from the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center in Cape Hatteras National Seashore Park, North Carolina, as Captain Richard Harris and Mate William Martin prepared the oil screw Fintastic for a fishing charter, Martin slipped and fell on fish slime and gurry, which had been left on the dock, injuring his back.1

Martin commenced this action against Richard Harris, Cheryl Harris, and the Fintastic, claiming that Richard Harris was liable to Martin in negligence under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. app. § 688(a) (2006) (now codified with minor changes at 46 U.S.C. § 30104(a)), and that the Fintastic was unseaworthy. After a bench trial, the district court found, on the Jones Act claim, that Harris was negligent in not keeping the dock around the Fintastic free of slime and gurry and that his negligence caused Martin's injuries. The court entered judgment against the defendants in the amount of $150,000, plus prejudgment interest. On the unseaworthiness claim, the court ruled against Martin out of a concern over whether the unseaworthiness doctrine extended to the dock next to a vessel. From the district court's judgment, dated June 4, 2007, the defendants appealed.2

In his appeal, Harris contends that the district court erred (1) in finding the evidence sufficient under the Jones Act to hold him liable for Martin's injuries; (2) in declining to render a judgment on partial findings at the end of Martin's case, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(c); (3) in admitting into evidence a photograph of the dolphin fish catch laid out on the dock behind the Fintastic, taken on the evening before Martin's fall; (4) in awarding prejudgment interest on the Jones Act claim; and (5) in not reducing the damages award by the amounts that Harris paid Martin for maintenance and cure.

We conclude that the district court erred in awarding prejudgment interest on the Jones Act claim and vacate that part of the judgment, and we affirm the judgment as so modified.

I

In January 2002, William Martin went to work as a shipmate for Richard Harris, who was the charter captain, owner, and operator of the fishing vessel Fintastic. The Fintastic is a 50-foot vessel designed for charter-party fishing in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras. In furtherance of his business, Captain Harris leased a slip from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, and the lease agreement required Harris to keep the dock space surrounding the slip free of trash, litter, debris, and other clutter, and to spray the boardwalk after a charter catch had been removed at the end of the trip. As Captain Harris expressed the duty, "They ask that every day after our fish are cleaned, or picked up by the fish cleaners, or the parties themselves dispose of the fish themselves, that we spray the dock off, keep it free of any slime."

Each morning Martin would arrive at the fishing center at approximately 4:30 a.m. to begin prevoyage preparation by loading ice on the vessel, releasing the lines to bring the vessel closer to the dock, and placing boarding stairs from the dock to the vessel to enable charter parties to board. At the end of the day, Martin would offload the day's catch onto the dock immediately behind the vessel and arrange the fish in a line so that a photographer could photograph the day's catch for use on the fishing center's website. After the photograph was completed, Captain Harris and Martin would clean the vessel and the dock. Harris normally cleaned the inside of the vessel and Martin, the outside. After the fish were removed from the dock, either Martin or Harris would hose the dock to wash away fish slime and gurry.

On May 30, 2002, Martin took the day off, and Keith Biggs served as Captain Harris' mate on the Fintastic. That day, the charter group caught approximately 30 dolphin fish. When the vessel returned to the dock, Biggs offloaded the fish and placed them on the dock behind the stern of the Fintastic for the customary photograph. After the photograph was taken, however, Captain Harris testified that he could not remember who then cleaned the dock off, if anyone.

The next day when Martin arrived at the Fintastic at 4:30 a.m. to prepare for the day's charter trip, he noticed that fishing lures and rods had been left out from the previous day and that the cockpit had not been washed down. There was sargassum—or offshore seaweed—in the fish box along with bags of ice and blood. Martin testified, "Just everything was left out from the day before." When Captain Harris arrived, Martin told him about the vessel's condition, and Harris responded that Biggs had just gotten back from Florida and was more interested in socializing with his buddies up and down the dock than cleaning the vessel.

As Martin prepared for that day's trip, he untied the lines to move the vessel closer to the dock to enable him to lay down the temporary steps. As he walked on the dock near the stern of the vessel, he slipped on fish slime or gurry immediately behind the vessel, landing hard on his buttocks. Martin testified, "Both of my feet came out from under me and I slammed down on the dock on my tail bone." As the district court observed, "[b]ecause of the early pre-dawn hour and limited lighting, Martin could not see the slime as he worked." Martin said that he "got up as fast as [he] could and tried to shake it off," but he had pain, figuring that he had just bruised his tail bone. He also had slime "all over [his] backside," a fact that Captain Harris later observed while they were at sea. When Harris, who saw Martin fall, asked Martin if he was all right, Martin responded that he thought he was okay; he thought he had been bruised but could walk it off. But as the day progressed, Martin had difficulty doing his job because he was suffering significant pain in his back. When he complained to Harris about it, Harris told him not to perform his usual post-trip duties and to go home and rest.

Martin sought medical attention the next day, and his doctor instructed him to apply ice and take pain medication. The pain persisted over the days that followed, and Martin was given an MRI, which revealed that Martin had suffered a disc herniation at the L5/S1 level of the lower spine and that a fragment in Martin's spinal canal was causing pressure on his sciatic nerve. A neurosurgeon performed a microdiskectomy, which eased the pain in Martin's leg, but not in his back. Martin underwent physical therapy and, in October 2002, was injected with steroids. By November 2002, Martin was released by his doctor to return to work, but with limitations. His doctor recommended that Martin not return to work on a fishing vessel but thought that Martin could engage in other work, provided he did not lift in excess of 30 pounds or bend frequently.

Martin incurred medical expenses totaling $25,539.32, all but $2,634 of which were paid by Harris as part of his cure obligation. Harris also paid Martin $8,000 for his maintenance obligation.

Martin commenced this action under the Jones Act for Harris' negligence in failing to provide a safe place to work and under general maritime law for the ship's unseaworthiness. After a bench trial, the district court found Harris liable to Martin under the Jones Act and awarded him damages in the amount of $150,000, plus prejudgment interest. In finding negligence, the court stated:

On May 30, 2002, either Harris or his employee, Keith Biggs, had negligently failed to remove slime and gurry from the dock. The slime and gurry made for an unreasonably safe condition, which in turn caused Martin's slip and fall on May 31, 2002....

Harris's negligence both directly and proximately caused Martin's injuries. Martin suffered a disk herniation at the L4/L5 and L5/S 1 levels of his spine, substantial physical pain and mental suffering, as well as permanent limitations. Martin additionally suffered a loss of earnings and diminished earnings capacity. These mental, physical and economic injuries entitle Martin to recover damages in the amount of $150,000 plus pre-judgment interest from May 31, 2002 until March 13, 2007, and post judgment interest from the date of this order until the judgment is satisfied.

From the district court's judgment, entered on June 4, 2007, the defendants filed this appeal.

II

For his principal argument, Harris contends that the evidence was insufficient to support a finding of negligence and causation, as required for a violation of the Jones Act. He argues that "[t]he district court's factual finding is simply an impermissible inference based upon multiple inferences that this Court should not countenance." He notes particularly, "The district court committed `clear error' when it impermissibly inferred the existence of fish slime on the dock from the previous day's catch. It inferred that the fish slime that caused Martin's fall was left there by the fish...

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