Burke v. Quick Lift, Inc., 05-CV-3731 (JFB)(WDW).

• Decision Date: 23 October 2009
• Docket Number: No. 05-CV-3731 (JFB)(WDW).,05-CV-3731 (JFB)(WDW).
• Citation: 668 F.Supp.2d 370
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York
• Parties: Joseph & Maria BURKE, Plaintiffs, v. QUICK LIFT, INC., et al., Defendants.

668 F.Supp.2d 370

Joseph & Maria BURKE, Plaintiffs, v. QUICK LIFT, INC., et al., Defendants.

No. 05-CV-3731 (JFB)(WDW).

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

October 23, 2009.

J. Stephen Simms, Esq., of Simms Showers LLP, Baltimore, MD, for plaintiffs.

David P. Feehan, Esq., of Hoey, King, Toker & Epstein, New York, NY, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JOSEPH F. BIANCO, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Dr. Joseph and Maria Burke (collectively, the "Burkes" or "plaintiffs") brought this admiralty and derivative torts action against defendants Quick Lift, Inc. ("Quick Lift")¹ and Staten Island Boat Sales ("SIBS" or "defendant"), alleging that the Burkes were injured as a result of defendants' respective failure to properly install and properly supervise the installation of a piece of equipment, a davit, on a yacht purchased by the Burkes. This Court has jurisdiction over the instant action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1333 and 1367. On March 30 and 31, 2009, a bench trial was held to determine defendant SIBS's liability, if any, for injuries suffered as a result of the davit's failure. Having held a bench trial, the Court now issues its findings of fact and conclusions of law, as required by Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and concludes, after carefully considering the evidence introduced at trial, the arguments of counsel, and the controlling law on the issues presented, that defendant SIBS bears no liability for the injuries incurred by plaintiffs. Specifically, as set forth in detail below, the Court finds that plaintiffs have failed to carry their burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that any employee of defendant SIBS negligently interfered with the installation of the davit or negligently supervised that installation. Accordingly, the Court enters judgment in favor of SIBS.

I. BACKGROUND

On August 5, 2005, plaintiff filed a complaint against defendants Quick Lift and SIBS, alleging a maritime tort claim against both defendants for negligent installation, and a derivative claim for loss of consortium. Specifically, the complaint alleged, among other things, that: "SIBS, acting through Quick Lift, and Quick Lift, had a duty to the Burkes to properly install the davit. They breached that duty, and the Burkes have suffered damages that SIBS's and Quick Lift's negligence proximately has caused...." (Complaint ("Compl.") ¶ 34.) The complaint asserted three claims against SIBS—namely, negligence (Count One), breach of warranty (Count Two), and a derivative claim for loss of consortium (Count Three). On June 8, 2006, the Court "so ordered" a stipulation discontinuing the breach of warranty cause of action with prejudice.

On October 12, 2005, Quick Lift filed a third-party complaint against Carver Boat Corporation, LLC, alleging that any damages suffered by the Burkes were caused by the third-party defendant Carver.

On July 14, 2006, defendants SIBS and Quick Lift moved to dismiss the Burkes' complaint. Also on July 14, 2006, third-party defendant Carver moved to dismiss Quick Lift's third-party complaint and, in a separate motion, to impose sanctions against Quick Lift for filing a frivolous pleading. On November 16, 2006, 464 F.Supp.2d 150 (E.D.N.Y.2006), the Court denied the motion to dismiss by defendants SIBS and Quick Lift, denied third-party defendant Carver's motion to dismiss the third-party complaint, and denied Carver's motion for sanctions against Quick Lift, Inc.²

On November 19, 2007, a stipulation and order of dismissal was entered discontinuing the third party action against Carver. On December 21, 2007, defendant SIBS filed a motion for summary judgment on the remaining negligence claim against it. The motion was fully submitted on February 1, 2008 and oral argument took place on April 4, 2008. By Memorandum and Order issued on April 11, 2008, 2008 WL 1744532 (E.D.N.Y.2008), the Court denied SIBS's motion, ruling that material issues of fact regarding whether a SIBS employee supervised the installation precluded summary judgment in defendant SIBS's favor.³ Familiarity with that decision and the facts and legal analysis contained therein is presumed. On April 29, 2008, the Court "so ordered" a stipulation dismissing, with prejudice, all claims, cross-claims and third-party actions against defendant Quick Lift.

On March 24, 2009, the Court bifurcated the scheduled bench trial on the respective issues of liability and damages. A bench trial was held on March 30 and 31, 2009 on the issue of liability.⁴

On March 30, 2009, plaintiffs presented their case-in-chief, which included the live testimony of witnesses Joseph Burke, Maria Burke, and Jonathan J. Howe, and the deposition testimony of Daniel Piles, James Berkebile, and Michael Osmanski. Defendant cross-examined the live testimony of all of plaintiffs' witnesses. At the conclusion of plaintiffs' case-in-chief, defendant moved for judgment as a matter of law. The Court reserved judgment. On March 31, 2009, defendant presented its case, which included the live testimony of witnesses Joseph Deluca and Michael Greco. Plaintiffs made a motion to strike the testimony of Joseph Deluca and Michael Greco, which the Court denied orally on the record, for reasons set forth therein. (Trial Tr. at 83-86, 98-100.) Plaintiffs cross-examined both witnesses. At the conclusion of the proceedings, defendant renewed its motion for judgment as a matter of law and the Court again reserved judgment. The parties' respective proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law were fully submitted by April 15, 2009. The Court has fully considered all of the evidence presented by the parties. Below are the Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

The following sections constitute findings of fact⁵ by the Court and are drawn from the undisputed facts submitted by the parties in the Joint Pre-Trial Order ("P.T.O."), trial exhibits, including depositions taken during discovery and admitted into evidence as trial exhibits ("Tr. Ex."), and witness testimony at trial on March 30, 2009 and March 31, 2009 ("Trial Tr.").

A. Sale of the Vessel and Davit

In or about May 2000, SIBS sold the subject vessel, a Carver Pilothouse Voyager, to Dr. Burke. (P.T.O. ¶ 1.) SIBS contracted with Quick Lift for the purchase and installation of a davit, Model QLH 800 with a lifting capacity of eight hundred pounds, into the subject vessel. (Id. ¶ 2.) A davit is a crane-like device that is utilized for raising and lowering smaller boats or dinghies to and from a larger boat. (Trial Tr. at 25.) It is comprised of a standpipe, which is mounted to the boat, and an arm which extends out from the standpipe. (Id. at 39, 61-62; Tr. Ex. 1, 4, 5.)

B. Installation of the Davit

Michael Osmanski, a Regional Service Manager for Carver, testified via deposition that davits are meant to be installed in a particular location "on the aft section of the bridge" of the subject boat. (Tr. Ex. 6 at 7, 18.) Indeed, there is a round-shaped "landing" on the upper deck of the Carver boat on which the round, upper plate of the davit is supposed to be mounted. (Id. at 20.) The landing is constructed of fiberglass and there is an aluminum plate laminated within the upper deck. (Id.) The aluminum plate is three-eighths of one inch thick and shaped like a doughnut. (Id. at 20-21.) Significantly, there is no such aluminum plate embedded in the lower deck, where the davit's base is mounted. (Id. at 21-22.) James Berkebile, Vice President for New Product Development for Carver Boat Corporation, testified, also via deposition, that the area where the davit is installed was specifically engineered for this purpose by Carver. (Tr. Ex. 8 at 9-11, 76.) Indeed, the very reason why the embedded plate on the upper deck was doughnut-shaped was to accommodate a davit. (Id. at 76.) In effectuating davit installations, Carver secures the upper plate of the davit to the upper deck by drilling and screwing or "tapping" directly into the upper deck and the doughnut-shaped aluminum plate embedded within. (Tr. Ex. 6 at 27-28.) The base of the davit is "through bolted" to the lower deck and to an aluminum backing plate which is added. (Id.) Osmanski testified that the "through bolt" installation is easier when done while the boat is being assembled, but can still be done in an aftermarket installation. (Id. at 28-29.) That is, once the boat is constructed, it is still possible to add the backing plate and through bolts and use washers and locknuts to secure the base down. (Id.)

The davit was custom-made and installed by Quick Lift. Daniel Piles ("Piles"), the Vice-President of Sales, testified via deposition that the Burkes' davit was "custom made shorter for Staten Island Boat Sales because they required the davit to fit in the same spot that they put their factory davit on [the vessel]." (Tr. Ex. 7 at 20-21.) Specifically, Piles stated that SIBS asked Quick Lift to build an 800 pound davit with a shorter boom to fit the subject vessel (id. at 21), and that he created a template that he took to the subject vessel to ensure that it was the right fit. (Id. at 37-38.) Piles represented that a SIBS "service guy or the parts guy" named "Joey" discussed the specifications of the davit and showed him to the Burkes' vessel to perform the measurement with the template. (Id. at 34, 36-37.)

Piles then returned to Quick Lift's premises in Miami, constructed the davit, shipped it to SIBS, and returned to install it in or about May of 2000. The davit was installed at that time on SIBS's premises by Piles and his brother, Salvatore Piles, Jr., another employee of Quick Lift. Though Piles knew of the location on the subject vessel where davits were installed by Carver, he did not know the details of the manner of proper installation. (Id. at 130.) In fact, although Piles had done some 300 davit installations over the course of his 11-year career, he believed that the date in...