Baccile v. Halcyon Lines

• Decision Date: 03 April 1950
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 7813.
• Citation: 89 F. Supp. 765
• Parties: BACCILE v. HALCYON LINES (HALCYON LIJN) et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

89 F. Supp. 765

BACCILE v. HALCYON LINES (HALCYON LIJN) et al.

Civ. A. No. 7813.

United States District Court E. D. Pennsylvania.

April 3, 1950.

Freedman, Landy & Lorry, Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiff.

Thomas F. Mount, Philadelphia, Pa., for third-party plaintiffs.

Thomas E. Byrne, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa., for third-party defendant.

McGRANERY, District Judge.

This is an action brought by Salvadore Baccile, an employee of the Haenn Ship Ceiling and Refitting Corporation (Haenn), against Halcyon Lines and Vinke and Company (Halcyon), the owners and operators of the vessell "Stad Vlaardingen". On November 25, 1946, while the vessel was moored at Girard Point, Philadelphia, Haenn was engaged by Halcyon to perform certain work aboard her, including the work of making the ship's grain feeders "grain tight". The grain feeders had been installed by a stevedoring company in Montreal, Canada, and a subsequent journey with a cargo of grain had resulted in some damage to the fittings. Within the number 2 feeder there was a stage planking about 10 inches wide, supported on cleats nailed to opposite bulkheads of the feeder, at a height of about 30 feet above the bottom of the hold. It appeared from the evidence that this planking had been built and left by the stevedoring company which had installed the feeders. The plaintiff Baccile, one of the carpenters Haenn had sent to work on the ship, and his foreman proceeded to the number 2 feeder with a ladder, part of Haenn's equipment, and lowered it onto the planking. They tapped the planking with the bottom rung of the ladder, in an effort to "sound" for cracks and test for sturdiness. Baccile then climbed down the ladder to the staging, the ladder meanwhile resting on the plank, unsecured at the top except for the foreman's hold on it. After maneuvering himself behind the ladder on the planking, in a situation of precarious balance, and advancing toward the corner of the feeder where the loose burlap lining needed tightening, Baccile felt the staging give. Before he could make any effective move for his safety, the structure collapsed, precipitating him to the bottom of the hold and causing him serious and permanent injuries.

The defendants, after the commencement of the suit, impleaded Haenn. Before trial it was agreed by all parties that a judgment be entered in favor of Baccile against Halcyon, the original defendants, with the understanding that this judgment would not be appealable and that it would be paid in full settlement; the issue should then proceed to trial for a determination of liability between Halcyon, the third-party plaintiff, and Haenn, the third-party defendant.

In submitting the issue to the jury the Court instructed that Halcyon had a duty to provide a reasonably safe place for Haenn's employees to work, and that Haenn had a duty to perform the work in a reasonably safe manner. In order to assist the jury in their deliberations, the Court submitted interrogatories for them to answer. In answering the interrogatories, the jury found that both parties had been negligent, contributing to the injuries suffered by the plaintiff, and apportioned the negligence between the parties in the ratio of 75% to Haenn and 25% to Halcyon.

Haenn, the third-party defendant, now moves for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, for a new trial, and, in the event of the denial of both, for a molding of the verdict so that the third-party plaintiff may recover from the third-party defendant only 50% of the judgment entered in favor of the original defendant.

In support of its motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the third-party defendant takes the position that, as a matter of law, there can be no recovery against it because the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C.A. § 901 et seq., precludes any recovery against the employer beyond the limit of its liability as prescribed by that Act. Inasmuch as Haenn has secured the payment of compensation to Baccile, under Section 4 of the Act it is, under Section 5, immune from direct recovery against it by the plaintiff. Without undertaking to engage in an extended discussion, it is my opinion that there is both reason and authority for the proposition that immunity from direct suit furnishes no defense to Halcyon's claim for contribution. Rich v. U. S., 2 Cir., 177 F.2d 688; Portel v. U. S., D.C., 85 F.Supp. 458; Coal Operators Gas Co. v. U. S., D.C., 76 F.Supp. 681; Christon v. U. S., D.C., 8 F.R.D. 327; The S. S. Samovar, D.C., 72 F.Supp. 574; Severn v. U. S., D.C., 69 F.Supp. 21; Green v. War Shipping Administration, D.C., 66 F. Supp. 393; The Tampico, D.C., 45 F.Supp. 174; Rederii v. Jarka Corp., D.C., 26 F. Supp. 304; see also American Stevedores v. Porello, 330 U.S. 446, 458, 67 S.Ct. 847, 91 L.Ed. 1011; Barbarino v. Stanhope S. S. Co., 2 Cir., 151 F.2d 553, 555; Cataldo v. A/S Glittre, D.C., 41 F.Supp. 555, 557.

Haenn argues that there may be no right of contribution against it because it was not joint tort feasor with Halcyon, in that it had no liability to Baccile in common with Halcyon, nor were the parties in pari delicto. Concededly, in view of Section 5 of the Compensation Act, Haenn was in no way liable directly to Baccile; but, by virtue of its negligence in contributing to the cause of Baccile's injury, it thereby breached a duty, which it owed to the ship-owner Halcyon, of performing the work on the ship with due care. For the breach of this duty, Haenn is liable to...