Callahan v. Fluor Ocean Services, Inc.
| Decision Date | 17 August 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. 73-1517 Summary Calendar.,73-1517 Summary Calendar. |
| Citation | 482 F.2d 1350 |
| Parties | Michael J. CALLAHAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. FLUOR OCEAN SERVICES, INC. and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
William M. Bass, Houma, La., Donald V. Organ, New Orleans, La., for plaintiff-appellant.
Frank C. Allen, Jr., New Orleans, La., for defendants-appellees.
Before WISDOM, AINSWORTH and CLARK, Circuit Judges.
The plaintiff in this case brought suit under the General Maritime Law and the Jones Act to recover for injuries he sustained while he was being lifted onto a fixed drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants on both claims. We affirm.
Shell Oil Company had contracted with the defendant, Fluor Ocean Services, Inc., to have the defendant install production facilities on three new offshore platforms in the Gulf. Shell then contracted with the Cheramie Boat Company to have Fluor's workers on the platform at which the injury in this case occurred transported there aboard the Botruc II, a large crewboat owned by Cheramie. Callahan, a painter's helper employed by Fluor, was injured the first day of work. Callahan and a co-worker got into a large cargo basket to be lifted by a crane to the platform. While the basket was being raised some mechanical or operational misfunction of the crane caused the basket to fall rapidly toward the deck of the Botruc II. The crane operator jammed on the brakes bringing the falling basket to a sudden halt. Callahan fell to the deck of the Botruc II and sustained serious injuries.
The district court denied Callahan's maritime law claim on the ground that Fluor was not an owner of the Botruc II for the occasion in question. He was, therefore, not liable for the unseaworthiness of the vessel. It then held that the determination that Fluor was not an owner for the occasion of the vessel was conclusive not only of Callahan's unseaworthiness claim but of his Jones Act claim as well. We agree that Fluor cannot be held to have been the owner for the occasion of the Botruc II, and that that fact defeats Callahan's common law claim. However, we cannot agree that a failure to establish that Fluor enjoyed sufficient control of the vessel to be held an owner for the occasion necessarily defeats the Jones Act claim. Control of the operation during which an injury is sustained may sometimes suffice to establish Jones Act liability. See Barrios v. Louisiana Construction Materials Co., 5 Cir. 1972, 465 F.2d 1157.
However, we find another ground for affirming the grant of summary judgment on the Jones Act claim. Fluor had argued in support of its motion for summary judgment that there was not sufficient evidence that Callahan was a seaman entitled to sue under the Jones Act to send the case to the jury. The district court did not reach this contention, because of its holding that...
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Longmire v. Sea Drilling Corp.
...is concerned.' 99 Cong.Rec. 7235." See also Bertrand v. Shell Oil Co., 489 F.2d 293, 295 (5th Cir. 1974); Callahan v. Fluor Ocean Serv., Inc., 482 F.2d 1350, 1351 (5th Cir. 1973); Bible v. Chevron Oil Co., 460 F.2d 1218 (5th Cir.), Cert. denied, 409 U.S. 984, 93 S.Ct. 325, 34 L.Ed.2d 248 (1......
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Olsen v. Shell Oil Co.
...within the meaning of the LHWCA. See Longmire v. Sea Drilling Corp., 610 F.2d 1342, 1348 (5th Cir.1980); Callahan v. Fluor Ocean Services, Inc., 482 F.2d 1350, 1351 (5th Cir.1973). The 1972 LHWCA amendments thus cannot affect the availability of a recovery in excess of tort damages against ......
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Graham v. Milky Way Barge, Inc.
...In fact, on similar facts this circuit has found a painter's helper not to be a seaman as a matter of law. Callahan v. Fluor Ocean Services, Inc., 482 F.2d 1350 (5th Cir.1973). Taylor also cites as error the district court's instructions to the jury concerning his seaman status. The distric......
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Graham v. Milky Way Barge, Inc.
...In fact, on similar facts this circuit has found a painter's helper not to be a seaman as a matter of law. Callahan v. Fluor Ocean Services, Inc., 482 F.2d 1350 (5th Cir.1973). Taylor also cites as error the district court's instructions to the jury concerning his seaman status. The distric......