Cain v. Transocean Offshore Usa, Inc.

• Decision Date: 21 February 2008
• Docket Number: No. 05-30963.,05-30963.
• Citation: 518 F.3d 295
• Parties: Rocky H. CAIN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. TRANSOCEAN OFFSHORE USA, INC.; Sedco Forex Corp., Defendants-Third Party Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Fontana Center LLC, Third Party Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

518 F.3d 295

Rocky H. CAIN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. TRANSOCEAN OFFSHORE USA, INC.; Sedco Forex Corp., Defendants-Third Party Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Fontana Center LLC, Third Party Defendant-Appellee.

No. 05-30963.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

February 21, 2008.

Paul B. Wilkins, Law Offices of Paul B. Wilkins, Columbia, LA, for Cain.

Hal C. Welch, Lemle & Kelleher, New Orleans, LA, for Transocean Offshore USA, Inc. and Sedco Forex Corp.

Daniel A. Reed, Seale, Smith, Zuber & Barnette, Baton Rouge, LA, for Fontana Ctr. LLC.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Before KING, GARZA and OWEN, Circuit Judges.

KING, Circuit Judge:

This case requires us to consider the continued viability of our longstanding precedent holding that a watercraft under construction is not a "vessel in navigation" for purposes of the Jones Act. We hold that the Supreme Court's decision in Stewart v. Dutra Construction Company, 543 U.S. 481, 125 S.Ct. 1118, 160 L.Ed.2d 932 (2005), has not effectively overruled that precedent because the decision did not concern or address the point at which a vessel-to-be actually becomes a vessel. We therefore REVERSE the district court's denial of summary judgment and REMAND for further proceedings.

I. Background

In 1996, Plaintiff-Appellee Rocky Cain began working as a driller on a semi-submersible drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico for Sonat Offshore USA, Inc. Sonat later became part of Defendant-Appellant Transocean Offshore USA, Inc. On March 1, 2000, Transocean assigned Cain as a toolpusher to the "Cajun Construction Site" in Singapore. Cain worked in Singapore for approximately six months at the PPL Shipyard, where the M/V CAJUN EXPRESS was under construction. The CAJUN EXPRESS is a fifth-generation semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling rig designed to drill for oil and gas. Cain was expected to continue working on the CAJUN EXPRESS, or a sister rig, after construction was complete. Cain supervised a drill crew of seven men and was responsible for overseeing safety issues and commissioning the drilling equipment.

During the first half of 2000, the CAJUN EXPRESS underwent sea trials to ensure that the power generation and navigation systems worked and that the structure was watertight for transit. With tugboat assistance, the CAJUN EXPRESS was then towed with men and equipment aboard to Grand Isle, Louisiana. During the journey, workers continued to build the rig, and Cain continued to test equipment. Upon arriving in the Gulf of Mexico, the CAJUN EXPRESS was moored in a "floating shipyard" for completion of construction.

Although the rig was capable of self-propulsion, it was not fully capable of operating as a semi-submersible drilling rig. The necessary construction still included installation of vital pipe-handling equipment and "blisters," which are large steel boxes welded to the rig to increase its buoyancy. Daniel Haslam, a Transocean engineer, testified that when it arrived in the Gulf of Mexico the CAJUN EXPRESS could lay pipe only under limited weather conditions. However, as a fifth generation semi-submersible unit, the most state of the art in the industry, the CAJUN EXPRESS was not designed to operate only under limited conditions. Haslam testified that no drilling contractor would have found the CAJUN EXPRESS fit for the purpose of drilling a deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico.

On September 10, 2000, Cain was working on board the CAJUN EXPRESS. At that time, the blisters still had not been installed and the drilling systems had not been commissioned. Cain entered a warehouse located on board the rig to retrieve a part for a member of the drill crew, whereupon he struck his head on a low-hanging light fixture and was injured. A neurosurgeon later examined Cain and recommended that he undergo physical therapy. Cain received physical therapy and continued to work on board the CAJUN EXPRESS. In April or May 2001, the CAJUN EXPRESS was finally completed and began drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Cain continued to work as a toolpusher on the CAJUN EXPRESS but was subsequently diagnosed with a herniated disc. In September 2001, he discontinued work to undergo a cervical discectomy and fusion. Cain returned to work in December 2001, when Transocean assigned him to a "work hardening" program at the Fontana Center, a facility in Lafayette, Louisiana. While participating in the work hardening program, Cain allegedly experienced elevated blood pressure and suffered additional injuries.

Cain filed suit under the Jones Act, alleging that his injuries were the result of Transocean's negligence and the unseaworthiness of the CAJUN EXPRESS. He also alleged that Transocean was negligent in assigning him to the work hardening program. Transocean moved for summary judgment, arguing that Cain was not a Jones Act seaman at the time of his injury because the CAJUN EXPRESS was not yet a "vessel in navigation." The district court denied Transocean's motion, concluding that the Supreme Court's decision in Stewart had overruled Fifth Circuit precedent concerning watercraft under construction. The district court held that the CAJUN EXPRESS was a vessel at the time of Cain's injury because under Stewart it was capable of transporting workers and equipment over water. This court granted Transocean's petition for leave to appeal the district court's denial of summary judgment. Fontana Center has not submitted a brief and has not raised any arguments on appeal.

II. Discussion

We review the district court's denial of summary judgment de novo. Solano v Gulf King 55, 212 F.3d 902, 905 (5th Cir. 2000). "Summary judgment is proper if the evidence shows the existence of no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Id.

Transocean argues on appeal that under our established precedent the CAJUN EXPRESS was not a vessel in navigation, and therefore Cain was not a Jones Act seaman, because the rig was still under construction at the time of Cain's injury. It further argues that the Supreme Court's decision in Stewart has effected no change on our prior case law. We agree with both contentions.

A. "Seaman" status and our established precedent

We begin by describing two of the principal remedies available to injured workers who ply their trade in connection with the sea: the Jones Act and the Longshore Harbor Workers' Compensation Act ("LHWCA"). The two Acts are mutually exclusive compensation regimes. Becker v. Tidewater, Inc., 335 F.3d 376, 386 (5th Cir.2003). The Jones Act permits a "seaman" to sue his employer for personal injuries suffered as a result of the employer's negligence. Park v. Stockstill Boat Rentals, Inc., 492 F.3d 600, 602-03 (5th Cir.2007) (citing 46 U.S.C. § 30104(a)). Such an action allows for potentially unlimited damages and is in contrast to the generally prescribed remedial scheme available to maritime workers under the LHWCA. See Becker, 335 F.3d at 386-87. Congress did not define the term "seaman," however, and left the courts to decide which maritime employees were covered by the Jones Act. Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 515 U.S. 347, 354, 115 S.Ct. 2172, 132 L.Ed.2d 314 (1995).

The LHWCA provides the exclusive remedy to land-based workers who fall within its provisions. Id. at 355, 115 S.Ct. 2172. It specifically excludes from its coverage "a master or member of a crew of any vessel." 33 U.S.C. § 902(3)(G). The Supreme Court has held this exclusion to be a refinement of the term "seaman" under the Jones Act. Chandris, 515 U.S. at 355-56, 115 S.Ct. 2172. Thus, a key requirement for Jones Act coverage is actually found in the LHWCA. Id.

Under the Jones Act, a "seaman" is a term of art for an employee whose duties "contribut[e] to the function of the vessel or to the accomplishment of its mission" and who has "a connection to a vessel in navigation (or to an identifiable group of such vessels) that is substantial in terms of both its duration and its nature." Chandris, 515 U.S. at 368, 115 S.Ct. 2172 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see also Garret v. Dean Shank Drilling Co., 799 F.2d 1007, 1009 (5th Cir.1986) ("The worker is a seaman if he is assigned permanently to a vessel in navigation or performs a substantial part of his work on the vessel, contributing to the function of the vessel or to the accomplishment of its mission."). The existence of a "vessel" is thus crucial to determining seaman status under the Jones Act. Holmes v. Atl. Sounding Co., 437 F.3d 441, 446 (5th Cir. 2006).

We have long held that the Jones Act analysis requires a watercraft to be "in navigation," and we have drawn a distinction between completed crafts and crafts that are under construction. A maritime worker "assisting in the building and ultimate commissioning of a launched but uncompleted vessel floating or maneuvering in navigable waters is not a seaman within the meaning of the Jones Act, because his vessel is not yet an instrumentality of commerce — private or public — and is therefore not `in navigation.'" Williams v. Avondale Shipyards, Inc., 452 F.2d 955, 958 (5th Cir.1971). In Williams, we held that a launched ship conducting sea trials was not "in navigation" because it was not yet being used for its intended purpose. Id.

Similarly, in Garret, we held that an offshore drilling rig was not a vessel in navigation because, at the time of the plaintiff's injury, the structure was still undergoing final construction to make it operational as an oil and gas drilling rig. 799 F.2d at 1009. We noted that the structure had never been engaged as an instrument of commerce and held that a "nonmerchant vessel is in navigation if it is engaged in its expected duties on navigable waters." Id.

In the instant case, the CAJUN EXPRESS was still under construction at the time of Cain's injury. Although the rig was capable of self-propulsion and had run...