Wood v. Diamond M Drilling Co.

• Decision Date: 22 November 1982
• Docket Number: No. 81-2495,81-2495
• Citation: 691 F.2d 1165,1983 A.M.C. 2959
• Parties: Richard T. WOOD, Plaintiff-Appellee Cross-Appellant, v. DIAMOND M DRILLING COMPANY and Diamond M International Company, Defendants-Appellants Cross-Appellees. Summary Calendar.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1165

691 F.2d 1165

Richard T. WOOD, Plaintiff-Appellee Cross-Appellant, v. DIAMOND M DRILLING COMPANY and Diamond M International

Company, Defendants-Appellants Cross-Appellees.

No. 81-2495

Summary Calendar.

United States Court of Appeals,

Fifth Circuit.

Nov. 22, 1982.

Ross, Griggs & Harrison, J. Douglas Sutter, Houston, Tex., for defendants-appellants cross-appellees.

Mandell & Wright, Sidney Ravkind, Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee cross-appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Before BROWN, REAVLEY and JOLLY, Circuit Judges.

JOHN R. BROWN, Circuit Judge:

This matter arises from a claim for personal injuries under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. Sec. 688. Because we find evidence sufficient to support the jury's conclusions as well as the Court's findings regarding maintenance and cure, we affirm.

I. Diamond and the Roughneck

In exploring the many facets of this case, we begin with the DIAMOND M NEW ERA, a semi-submersible drilling rig owned by the defendant, Diamond M Drilling Company (Diamond). ¹ Mounted in the sapphire seas off the coast of New Jersey, Diamond's ERA is but one of many such rigs found along the Atlantic's jewelled coast. In this simple yet impressive setting, the plaintiff, Richard Wood (Wood), was employed by Diamond as a roughneck or floor hand. On July 5, 1978, while doing general maintenance work, Wood was called to the moon pool area of the rig to make some repairs on a disengaged fill-up line. To assist in these repairs, Wood positioned himself on some scaffolding and held on to a tensioner cable for balance. Tensioner cables secure the rig to the ocean floor. They move in and out of various pulleys as the rig rocks and sways in the ocean swells. At that moment, the cable that Wood was grasping moved because of an ocean swell and Wood's left hand was pulled into the pulley mechanism causing him serious injury.

Wood filed suit under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.A. Sec. 688, and the Admiralty and General Maritime law of the United States alleging negligence and unseaworthiness seeking damages and maintenance.

The issues of negligence, unseaworthiness and damages were submitted to the jury on eight special interrogatories. ² In answering the special interrogatories, the jury found both parties negligent, apportioning 27% fault to Wood, and found the DIAMOND M NEW ERA seaworthy. It further awarded Wood $267,000 damages. ³

The issue of maintenance and cure was submitted to the District Court by agreement. Following a conference on maintenance and cure, the court awarded Wood compensation maintenance of $30 per day from October 3, 1979 to July 1, 1981, the date on which Wood would reach his maximum medical recovery.

Following trial, Diamond filed a motion for j.n.o.v. The Court denied the motion and entered judgment. Diamond appeals.

II. Diamond is for Error

A. Loss of Future Earnings

Diamond argues that the jury's award of $200,000 for loss of future earnings was excessive and, for that reason, the Judge erred in entering judgment for this amount. Diamond contends that because Wood is now employed at a salary in excess of the amount he received while employed at Diamond and had not intended to remain a rig worker for the rest of his life, a jury award of $200,000 was unsupported by the evidence and, in any case, excessive. Diamond's argument is flawed.

This Court affords great deference to jury findings. The Seventh Amendment to the Constitution provides that no fact tried by a jury shall be reexamined by any court of the United States except according to the rules of common law. This constitutional requirement is reinforced by statute in cases brought under the Jones Act. Boeing v. Shipman, 411 F.2d 365, 371 (5th Cir. 1969). For that reason, an appellate court may not reweigh the evidence or set aside the jury's verdict merely because the appellate judges could have drawn different inferences or conclusions from the evidence, or feel that other results might be more reasonable. Gallick v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co., 372 U.S. 108, 83 S.Ct. 659, 9 L.Ed.2d 618 (1963); Sentilles v. Inter-Carribean Shipping Corp., 361 U.S. 107, 80 S.Ct. 173, 4 L.Ed.2d 142 (1959). The most an appellate court can do is to determine whether there was any competent and substantial evidence in the record which fairly tends to support the verdict. Mortensen v. United States, 322 U.S. 369, 64 S.Ct. 1037, 88 L.Ed. 1331 (1944). Thus, an appellate court will not overturn a jury's verdict, even though contradictory evidence was presented, if there is an evidentiary basis for the verdict. Basham v. Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 372 U.S. 699, 83 S.Ct. 965, 10 L.Ed.2d 80 (1963); Lavender v. Kurn, 327 U.S. 645, 66 S.Ct. 740, 90 L.Ed. 916 (1946).

Measured by these standards, we hold that there is sufficient evidence in the record to support the jury's award of $200,000 for loss of future earnings. Wood testified that he planned to remain in the oil drilling field and that being an assistant driller was the kind of work he wanted to do. Wood's wife testified that her husband wanted a kind of job where he could work with people and where he could be physically active. A court of appeals can review the findings of a trial court, but it cannot try the action de novo. Thus, this Court cannot weigh the evidence or reassess testimony, since the trier of fact is the ultimate judge of the credibility of the witnesses. Friedman v. Commissioner, 235 F.2d 86 (6th Cir. 1956). Thus, though the proof may not be D-flawless, the evidence in the record is sufficient to sustain a jury award of $200,000 for loss of future earnings.

Moreover, we do not find the amount of the award excessive. We have repeatedly held that a jury's award is not to be disturbed unless it is so large as to "shock the judicial conscience", indicate "bias, passion, prejudice, corruption, or other improper motive" on the part of the jury, Allen v. Seacoast Products, Inc., 623 F.2d 355, 364 (5th Cir. 1980), or is "contrary to all reason." Menard v. Penrod Drilling Co., 538 F.2d 1084 (5th Cir. 1976). See e.g., Morgan v. Commercial Union Assurance Cos., 606 F.2d 554, 556 (5th Cir. 1979); King v. Ford Motor Co., 597 F.2d 436, 445 (5th Cir. 1979); Taylor v. Washington Terminal Co., 409 F.2d 145 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 835, 90 S.Ct. 93, 24 L.Ed.2d 85 (1969). Thus, before a court of appeals may set aside an award of damages as being excessive, it must make a detailed appraisal of the evidence bearing on damages and find that, in light of such detailed evidence, the amount of the jury award is so high that it would be a denial of justice to permit it to stand. Grunenthal v. Long Island Railroad Co., 393 U.S. 156, 89 S.Ct. 331, 21 L.Ed.2d 309 (1968); and see Gorsalitz v. Olin Matheson Chemical Corp., 429 F.2d 1033 (5th Cir. 1970).

Wood presented detailed evidence as to his projected lifetime earnings. In its brief, Diamond does not challenge these projections outright, but rather focuses on Wood's current employment with Sedco and the fact that Wood is currently earning a salary in excess of that he earned while employed by Diamond. In Griffith v. Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp., 452 F.Supp. 841, 846 (W.D.Pa.1978), the Court based its award for loss of future earnings on loss of employment opportunities as opposed to actual reduction in earnings. The Court said, "It is not the status of the immediate present which determines capacity for remunerative employment. Where permanent injury is involved, the whole span of life must be considered. It must be determined whether or not the economic horizon of the plaintiff has been shortened because of the injury sustained as a result of defendants' negligence." Id. at 846. Though not bound by the decision, we nevertheless agree with the Court's analysis. We are not shocked, or dazzled, by what Diamond would have us believe is a forty-carat award. We therefore hold that the District Court was correct in entering judgment on the jury's finding.

B. Lost Wages

Diamond next argues that the jury's finding of $16,000 in lost wages was incorrect. Diamond argues that since Wood's base salary was paid by Diamond until the time of his voluntary employment with Sedco, the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's award. We do not agree.

At first glance, Diamond's argument has a ring of truth. Prior to his employment with Sedco, Wood did receive $250 per week in payments from Diamond. Though this amount roughly equals Wood's weekly salary from Diamond, ⁴ Diamond's suggestion that Wood had already been paid his lost wages is flawed.

This cutty analysis of Diamond's claim reflects this Court's hesitance to overturn jury findings. As suggested above, this Court will disturb jury findings only when they "shock the judicial conscience." The $16,000 award for lost wages is clearly reflected in the evidence. Wood presented detailed evidence concerning both his salary at the time of the accident and his potential earning increases to the date of trial. Yet even if Wood had remained at his salary level as of the date of the accident, the $16,000 award for lost wages would not be so outrageous as to justify this Court's overturning it. In fact, counsel for Diamond, who clearly has no need to magnify the award, in his closing argument to the jury, suggested that lost wages, if any, should be "somewhere in the neighborhood of $12,000". On this basis, we see no reason to disturb the jury's findings.

C. Loss of Life's Enjoyment

Diamond next urges that the trial court erred in entering judgment for plaintiff's loss of life's enjoyment in addition to his pain, suffering, and mental anguish. See note 3, (c) and (d). The issue of loss of life's enjoyment suffered by Wood was submitted to the jury on special interrogatories. See note 3, (e) and (f). This Court has traditionally held that a trial judge has considerable discretion in framing the issues involved. Dreiling v....