Charpentier v. Fluor Ocean Services, Inc.
| Decision Date | 24 June 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 75-1454,75-1454 |
| Parties | Jerry CHARPENTIER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. FLUOR OCEAN SERVICES, INC., et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Robert A. Pitre, Jr., Abbott J. Reeves, Gretna, La., for plaintiff-appellant.
Donald L. King, Frank C. Allen, Jr., New Orleans, La., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Before TUTTLE, AINSWORTH and CLARK, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-appellant Jerry Charpentier injured his knee while working for Fluor on a barge owned and operated by it. After two operations on the knee, and after receiving approximately $7,500 in medical expenses and maintenance and cure, Charpentier signed a release of claims in return for an additional payment of $20,000. However, after allegedly discovering that he was permanently disabled, he sued under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 688 (1970), to obtain recompense for the injury. The district court entered summary judgment for Fluor on the ground that Charpentier's Jones Act complaint was barred by the release. Because the documentation before the court demonstrates that an unresolved material issue of fact as to the circumstances under which the release was given remained, we reverse and remand the cause for further proceedings.
Charpentier filed an affidavit setting out that he was overreached in the settlement negotiations because the doctor for defendant-appellee Liberty Mutual Insurance Company who treated him told him that he would recover fully from his injury and would be able to return to work in a couple of months. He averred that he was in fact unable to return to his former job or to engage in similar work. He further swore that in the course of a Social Security hearing six months after the settlement, he discovered that the treating physician had established at the time he was discharged that he would suffer the permanent partial disability, yet never advised him of this consequence.
The party who attempts to rely on a maritime release has the burden of proving its validity. Robertson v. Douglas Steamship Co., 510 F.2d 829, 835 n. 4 (5th Cir. 1975). To sustain a summary judgment based on such a release, the moving party must carry the additional burden of demonstrating that no controverted issues of material fact as to validity survive. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56.
Here, however, if Charpentier's allegations are taken as true and in a light...
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Oliver v. Veterans Administration
...144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); Mack v. Cape Elizabeth School Board, 553 F.2d 720 (1st Cir. 1977); Charpentier v. Fluor Ocean Servs., Inc., 534 F.2d 71 (5th Cir. 1976). WHEREFORE, the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by plaintiff is DENIED and the Motion for Summary Judgment fil......
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...Cape Elizabeth School Board, 553 F.2d 720 (1st Cir. 1977); Kellerman v. Askew, 541 F.2d 1089 (5th Cir. 1976); Charpentier v. Fluor Ocean Servs., Inc., 534 F.2d 71 (5th Cir. 1976). In view of the above, the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by plaintiff is DENIED and the Motion for Summary J......
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...Cape Elizabeth School Board, 553 F.2d 720 (1st Cir., 1977); Kellerman v. Askew, 541 F.2d 1089 (5th Cir. 1976); Charpentier v. Fluor Ocean Servs. Inc., 534 F.2d 71 (5th Cir. 1976). Defendant has carried its Thus, plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment is DENIED. Defendant's motion for summa......
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Wilson v. Western Oceanic, Inc.
...(Reoch Deposition p. 13 lines 7-15; Taig Deposition pp. 14-15; Jacobson Deposition p. 17 lines 13-22). In Charpentier v. Fluor Ocean Services, Inc., 534 F.2d 71 (5th Cir. 1976) the district court was reversed for granting a summary judgment, upholding a seaman's release, when the plaintiff ......