Endicott v. Icicle Seafoods, Inc.

Decision Date07 January 2010
Docket NumberNo. 82635-8.,82635-8.
Citation167 Wn.2d 873,224 P.3d 761
PartiesJustin ENDICOTT, an individual, Respondent, v. ICICLE SEAFOODS, INC., an Alaska Corporation, Appellant.
CourtWashington Supreme Court

Michael Alan Barcott, Thaddeus O'Sullivan, Holmes Weddle & Barcott, Seattle, WA, Kara Heikkila, Hall Farley Oberrecht & Blanton, PA, Boise, ID, for Appellant.

Anthony L. Rafel, Rafel Law Group, PLLC, Seattle, WA, Cory D. Itkin, Houston, TX, Philip Albert Talmadge, Talmadge/Fitzpatrick, Tukwila, WA, for Respondent.

Robert M. Kraft, Richard John Davies, Kraft Palmer Davies, PLLC, Seattle, WA, for Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific, amicus curiae.

STEPHENS, J.

¶ 1 This case requires us to decide whether the defendant in a Jones Act (46 U.S.C. § 30104) and general maritime suit filed in state court has a right to a jury trial and whether prejudgment interest is available in such a case. A fish cart crushed Justin Endicott's arm while he was working in the freezer on one of Icicle Seafoods' ships. Endicott sued in King County Superior Court, seeking compensation under the Jones Act and under the general maritime doctrine of unseaworthiness. Endicott successfully struck Icicle's jury trial demand. After a bench trial, the judge ruled for Endicott on both the negligence and unseaworthiness claims and awarded Endicott damages and prejudgment interest. Icicle appealed the verdict and the interest award. The Court of Appeals certified the case to this court for direct review. We hold that Icicle had a right to a trial by jury and, therefore, vacate the judgment below and remand for new trial. We also hold that prejudgment interest is available in mixed maritime cases.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2 Endicott worked aboard Icicle's ship the Bering Star. On May 1, 2003, Endicott and a co-worker, Jason Jenkins, were pushing a 1,500 pound fish cart through the ship's freezer along an overhead guide rail. The cart slipped off the rail, causing Endicott to trip and catch his arm on a pole. Jenkins did not hear Endicott's cries to stop and kept pushing the cart, which crushed Endicott's arm against the pole. The injury required two surgeries and a lengthy recuperation.

¶ 3 Icicle's safety manager completed an accident report on May 3, 2003. Attached to the report was a May 9, 2003, statement by Jenkins describing the accident in terms very similar to the report. The statement was addressed "To Whom It May Concern" and bore a formal printed name, signature, and date. Pl. Ex. 48, at ICI 0014.

¶ 4 Endicott sued Icicle in King County Superior Court, seeking compensation under the Jones Act for Icicle's negligence and under the general maritime doctrine of unseaworthiness. Icicle demanded a jury trial, but Endicott successfully moved to strike the demand. At the bench trial, the court admitted Jenkins' statement as an admission by a party opponent under Evidence Rule 801(d)(2)(iv). Icicle sought to introduce evidence of Endicott's drug use and mental health problems, arguing that they established an alternative cause for some of Endicott's lost wages. The court allowed most of this evidence but refused a portion of it, including one social worker's deposition and some proposed exhibits. Finding for Endicott on the negligence and unseaworthiness claims, the court awarded Endicott damages for medical costs and lost wages, general damages, and prejudgment interest. Icicle timely appealed.

¶ 5 Icicle seeks to vacate the judgment and remand for a new trial by jury. The Court of Appeals certified the case to this court for direct review, which we accepted. Ruling Accepting Certification (Jan. 28, 2009).

ANALYSIS

¶ 6 Icicle challenges the judgment below on four grounds. First, Icicle contends that it had a right to a jury trial of Endicott's claim. Second, it claims that, as a matter of federal law, the trial court did not have the discretion to award Endicott prejudgment interest. Third, Icicle maintains that the trial judge abused his discretion when he admitted Jenkins' statement as an admission by a party opponent. Finally, Icicle argues that the trial judge abused his discretion when he excluded some of the evidence of Endicott's drug use and mental health history. We address the first two contentions but do not reach the third and fourth.

1. Jury Trial

¶ 7 Icicle maintains that it had a right to demand a jury trial of Endicott's claims. Endicott counters that the Jones Act provides him a substantive right to determine whether the case is heard by a judge or a jury. We agree with Icicle. Endicott has no substantive right to a nonjury trial because, for Jones Act cases tried in state court, state law grants both parties a right to demand a jury.

A. Background

¶ 8 The United States Constitution extends the judicial power of the federal courts "to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction," preserving the general maritime law as a species of federal common law. U.S. Const. art. III, § 2. Congress has given federal courts exclusive jurisdiction over all cases of "admiralty or maritime jurisdiction, saving to suitors in all cases all other remedies to which they are otherwise entitled." 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1) (emphasis added). The "saving to suitors" clause gives plaintiffs the right to sue on maritime actions in state court provided that the state court proceeds in personam (here, "at law") and not in rem (here, "in admiralty"). Madruga v. Superior Court, 346 U.S. 556, 560-61, 74 S.Ct. 298, 98 L.Ed. 290 (1954). Such suits are governed by substantive federal maritime law. Pope & Talbot, Inc. v. Hawn, 346 U.S. 406, 409-10, 74 S.Ct. 202, 98 L.Ed. 143 (1953). Maritime plaintiffs may also sue at law in federal court if they meet the diversity of citizenship and amount in controversy requirements. E.g., Coats v. Penrod Drilling Corp., 61 F.3d 1113, 1117 (5th Cir.1995) (predicating jurisdiction both in admiralty and on diversity). However, general maritime law does not confer federal question jurisdiction. Romero v. Int'l Terminal Operating Co., 358 U.S. 354, 378, 79 S.Ct. 468, 3 L.Ed.2d 368 (1959).

¶ 9 In 1903, the United States Supreme Court interpreted the general maritime law to preclude seamen's suits against their employers for negligence. The Osceola, 189 U.S. 158, 175, 23 S.Ct. 483, 47 L.Ed. 760 (1903). Congress overturned the result in the Osceola by passing the Jones Act, which now provides in relevant part:

A seaman injured in the course of employment ... may elect to bring a civil action at law, with the right of trial by jury, against the employer. Laws of the United States regulating recovery for personal injury to ... a railway employee apply to an action under this section.

46 U.S.C. § 30104(a). The railway-employee law referred to is the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. §§ 51-60, which allows recovery for negligence. FELA cases are persuasive authority when interpreting the meaning of the Jones Act unless some aspect of the Jones Act or maritime law makes FELA's application unreasonable in a particular context. See, e.g., The Arizona v. Anelich, 298 U.S. 110, 119-23, 56 S.Ct. 707, 80 L.Ed. 1075 (1936) (declining to apply FELA's assumption of the risk rules to Jones Act claims).

¶ 10 By its terms, the Jones Act allows seamen to sue at law, but not in admiralty, to recover for their employers' negligence. In an early case, the United States Supreme Court adopted a fictitious reading of the act in order to save it from constitutional challenge. See Pan. R.R. Co. v. Johnson, 264 U.S. 375, 44 S.Ct. 391, 68 L.Ed. 748 (1924). The litigant argued that the Jones Act was unconstitutional for two reasons. First, it impermissibly carved out a personal-injury piece of admiralty jurisdiction and transferred it to the courts' common law jurisdiction. Id. at 385-87, 44 S.Ct. 391. Second, the Jones Act violated due process by allowing the plaintiff-seaman to "elect between varying measures of redress and between different forms of action" without according equal rights to the defendant-employer. Id. at 392, 44 S.Ct. 391. The Court avoided the first issue by interpreting the act to allow negligence suits both in admiralty and at law. An admiralty suit would yield a bench trial, while a suit at common law would yield a jury trial. Id. at 390-91, 44 S.Ct. 391. The Court dispatched the second contention by concluding that "[t]here are many instances in the law where a person entitled to sue may choose between alternative measures of redress and modes of enforcement." Id. at 392, 44 S.Ct. 391.

¶ 11 Johnson left ambiguous whether the plaintiff's power to "elect between ... different forms of action" is a statutory right to elect the mode of trial (jury vs. nonjury) or whether it is the right to select the jurisdictional basis of trial (at law vs. in admiralty). If the latter, the jury trial right flows procedurally from the choice of jurisdiction. This question is what the parties here contest. We review this issue of law de novo. State v. Womac, 160 Wash.2d 643, 649, 160 P.3d 40 (2007).

B. Extent of the Jones Act Election

¶ 12 There is a split among federal and state courts as to which interpretation of Johnson is correct, with the Ninth Circuit and California on one side and the Fifth Circuit, Seventh Circuit, Louisiana, and Illinois on the other.

¶ 13 Endicott argues for the Ninth Circuit's "statutory" interpretation, claiming that he has a substantive federal right to elect the mode of trial (jury vs. nonjury) under the Jones Act. Br. of Resp't at 6-8. For support he cites Craig v. Atl. Richfield Co., 19 F.3d 472, 476 (9th Cir.1994) ("The plain language of the Jones Act gives a plaintiff the option of maintaining an action at law with the accompanying right to a jury trial. The Act makes no mention of a defendant."). The Craig opinion uses exclusio alterius reasoning to conclude that the defendant in a nondiversity Jones Act suit filed in federal court has no right to demand a jury trial. Id. at...

To continue reading

Request your trial
14 cases
  • Dean v. Fishing Co. of Alaska, Inc.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Washington
    • May 9, 2013
    ...all other remedies to which they are otherwise entitled.” (emphasis added)); Endicott v. Icicle Seafoods, Inc., 167 Wash.2d 873, 878, 224 P.3d 761 (2010) (“The ‘saving to suitors' clause gives plaintiffs the right to sue on maritime actions in state court.” (citing Madruga v. Superior Court......
  • Maziar v. Wash. State Dep't of Corr., 71068–1–I.
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Washington
    • March 24, 2014
    ...15, 2011, Maziar, relying on the Washington Supreme Court's recent opinion in Endicott v. Icicle Seafoods, Inc., 167 Wash.2d 873, 224 P.3d 761 (2010), moved to strike the jury request. DOC opposed the motion. The trial court granted the motion and the parties tried the case to the bench. ¶ ......
  • In re S.E., 74917-0-I
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Washington
    • July 10, 2017
    ...at 647, 662, 374 P.3d 1123 (citing Barnhart , 172 Wash.2d at 229, 257 P.3d 648 ; Endicott v. Icicle Seafoods, Inc. , 167 Wash.2d 873, 884, 224 P.3d 761 (2010) ). ¶12 The Washington Constitution provides that, "The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate." CONST. art. I, § 21.3 In proc......
  • M.W. v. Dep't of Soc. & Health Servs.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Washington
    • June 9, 2016
    ...is similar to one that would include the right to a jury trial at that time. Endicott v. Icicle Seafoods, Inc. , 167 Wash.2d 873, 884, 224 P.3d 761 (2010).¶ 59 The superior court commissioner held that former RCW 71.05.320(3)(c)(ii) violates individuals' statutory and 185 Wash.2d 663 state ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT