Campbell v. Tidewater Associated Oil Co.
| Decision Date | 04 June 1956 |
| Citation | 141 F. Supp. 431 |
| Parties | Victor CAMPBELL, Plaintiff, v. TIDEWATER ASSOCIATED OIL COMPANY, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Kreindler & Kreindler, New York City, for plaintiff. Harry Kreindler, New York City, of counsel.
Tompkins, Boal & Tompkins, New York City, for defendant. Gray Williams, New York City, of counsel.
This is a case for personal injuries tried without a jury by stipulation of counsel. The plaintiff claims that the defendant's ship was unseaworthy and that the defendant was negligent. He also claims maintenance and cure. The Court has jurisdiction by virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 1331.
The accident. In the early afternoon of May 5, 1952, the plaintiff was descending from the top of a tank or trunk to the deck of the defendant's tanker, the S. S. Veedol, when he fell and suffered the injuries complained of. The tank top, which will hereafter be referred to as the trunk, was approximately 30' wide and 100' long. Both the top surface of the trunk and the deck were flat. The top surface of the trunk was 35" or 36" higher than the deck. The side of the trunk which, as just stated, measured 35" or 36" in height, was straight or perpendicular to the deck. Evenly spaced, some 15' apart along the 100' length of the trunk, were about six footsteps or cleats welded to the side of the trunk. These cleats were placed singly and in each instance about halfway up the side of the trunk. Thus each was approximately 18" below the level of the top surface of the trunk. The cleats were about 1' in length (the long side being the side welded to the trunk) and 5" or 6" wide. It is undisputed that there were no handholds provided for the assistance of those using the cleat in ascending to or descending from the trunk top.
On the day of the accident, the ship was tied to a dock at Revere, Mass. The plaintiff was employed as an able-bodied seaman and had been assigned the 12-4 afternoon shift. While he was working on top of the trunk painting some valves, he was called forward for the regular coffee break. He could have gone forward either by mounting a flying bridge or catwalk which was elevated from the top of the trunk and ran forward down its length, or by descending to the deck and proceeding along it. He testified that normally, except in rough weather at sea, the flying bridge or catwalk was only for the use of the ship's officers. The plaintiff chose to go by way of the deck and so he went over and put his right foot down lengthwise along the length of one of the cleats and started to lower himself in the manner which was, he said, customary aboard the ship. When he had put all of his weight on the foot on the cleat, it slipped and he pitched over sideways. He landed on his right side and shoulder with his arm twisted underneath and lay there. Shortly after, some people came up and helped him to nearby quarters. An ambulance was summoned, and the plaintiff was taken to the Revere Hospital. He was X-rayed and remained there about an hour. Next he was taken by a company agent to the U. S. Public Health Service Marine Hospital in Boston where he arrived at 4:45 P.M. the same day and remained there about one week.
Medical care and injuries. The plaintiff testified that during the time he spent in the Boston Marine Hospital, he felt "terrible" with most of the pain in his right arm, shoulder, and side. More X-rays were taken of his lower arm and a cast was put on his arm from his neck to his finger tips. After about a week, he requested discharge and left for New York where he assumed outpatient status at the Marine Hospital at Stapleton on Staten Island. His arm was kept in a cast for a couple of months and then his arm was soaked in a hot bath once a week. Also, he was given exercises to do and he did them. He continued on this basis, visiting the hospital about once a week, until he was discharged and told, on or about September 12, 1952 that he was fit for work.
The plaintiff's expert medical witness testified that an X-ray taken in September of 1952 shows a fracture of the radius about three-quarters of an inch above the wrist. He testified that due to the restriction in movement, he found the plaintiff had suffered a 25 to 35% permanent partial disability in his right wrist (the plaintiff is right-handed) and a slight permanent partial disability in his shoulder. These findings were concurred in by the doctor called by the defendant, except that this doctor saw no "contra-indication to the resumption of sea duty as an able bodied seaman". In giving this opinion, this doctor conceded that the plaintiff "naturally would be handicapped to some extent".
The plaintiff testified that he still has pain and soreness in his right arm, shoulder, and neck and that his right hand is numb so that he is apt to drop things. The pain is "a lot worse" in rainy spells.
Maintenance and cure and loss of earnings. The plaintiff was about 51 years and 7 months old when the accident occurred. He resides in Brooklyn. He stated that his occupation was seaman "off and on since I was a boy". He had been employed by the defendant as an able-bodied seaman since signing on the S. S. Veedol on or about December 1, 1951. The regular rate of compensation was $266.21 a month and in addition lodgings and board on the ship. Due to overtime, his actual earnings were considerably more than the basic rate. Thus, in December of 1951, he received $370.58 from the defendant and in 1951, from January 1 to May 5, he received $1,505.43. This would be an average compensation of about $375 per month exclusive of room and board.
After the accident, the plaintiff received maintenance from the defendant at $42 a week for about eleven weeks until August of 1951. In addition, he was tendered $170 as supplementary maintenance and cure in February of this year (presumably to cover the period from the cutoff in August of 1952 until he was found fit for duty on September 12, 1952). He rejected the offer.
After the plaintiff was discharged from the Marine Hospital on Staten Island, he went to the hiring office of the defendant in quest of work, but he was told none was available for him. He testified that his right arm felt too "weak and sore" for him to do the heavy work required of an able-bodied seaman and so he took a job as a barge captain on a coal barge operating in New York harbor. This employment started on about May 1, 1953 or about one year after the accident. (The doctor called by his counsel testified that in view of the plaintiff's age, occupation, and accident, a period of a year...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Mesle v. Kea Steamship Corporation
...v. Grueby, 1 Cir., 1930, 40 F.2d 8; Pinion v. Mississippi Shipping Co., D.C.E.D.La.1957, 156 F. Supp. 652; Campbell v. Tidewater Associated Oil Co., D.C.S.D.N.Y.1956, 141 F. Supp. 431; Ladjimi v. Pacific Far East Line, D.C.N.D.Cal.1951, 97 F.Supp. 174; The Leontios Teryazos, D.C.E.D.N.Y. 19......
-
Saleeby v. Kingsway Tankers, Inc.
...v. United Fruit, 441 F.2d 1308, 1312 (2d Cir. 1971); Young v. American Export, 291 F.Supp. 447, 450 (S.D.N.Y.1968); Campbell v. Tidewater, 141 F.Supp. 431, 435 (S.D.N.Y.1956). See also Baker v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 502 F.2d 638, 644 (6th Cir. 1974); Alexander v. Meiji, 195 F.Supp. 831......
-
Ezekiel v. Volusia Steamship Co.
...the ship is unseaworthy. Krey v. United States, 2 Cir., 123 F.2d 1008 (shipboard shower without handle); Campbell v. Tidewater Associated Oil Co., D.C.S.D.N.Y., 141 F.Supp. 431 (tank with cleats for climbing, but not handrails). Thus, for example, if a ship had on it a pump which sprayed ac......