In re Maryland Marine, Inc.

• Decision Date: 09 July 2009
• Docket Number: No. Civil Action No. 08-1560.,Civil Action No. 08-1560.
• Citation: 641 F.Supp.2d 579
• Parties: In re MARYLAND MARINE, INC.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana

641 F.Supp.2d 579

In re MARYLAND MARINE, INC.

No. Civil Action No. 08-1560.

United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana.

July 9, 2009.

Conrad S.P. Williams, III, Williams Law Group, Charles Clarence Bourque, Jr., Melanie G. Lagarde, St. Martin, Williams & Bourque, APLC, Houma, LA, for Defendant.

John Fredrick Kessenich, Jon A. Van Steenis, Jonathan H. Sandoz, Michael William McMahon, Daigle & Fisse, Covington, LA, for Petitioners.

ORDER & REASONS¹

HELEN G. BERRIGAN, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on motion for partial summary judgment by Maryland Marine, Inc., Higman Marine Services, Inc., and Higman Marine, Inc. ("Petitioners") seeking the dismissal of claims for loss of society by the relatives and the estates representing passengers of a pleasure craft who died in a collision with Petitioners' tug-barge unit in Alabama navigable waters. Rec. Doc. 59. Petitioners move the Court to determine (1) whether the general maritime law, not the Alabama wrongful death statute (Ala. 1975 Code § 6-5-410), governs Claimants' claim, and (2) whether under the general maritime law, Claimants are entitled to damages for loss of society. The parties do not dispute that the general maritime law applies.² Rec. Doc. 59 at 2; Rec. Doc. 72 at 2-3. Having considered the record, the memoranda, and the law, the Court concludes that as a matter of law Claimants may not recover damages for loss of society under the general maritime law for the following reasons.

I. BACKGROUND

Petitioners filed this complaint under 46 U.S.C.App. § 183 et seq. to exonerate or limit damages payable to the decedents' representatives. Rec. Doc. 1; Rec. Doc. 7. Relatives and the estates representing the deceased craft passengers filed claims against Petitioners pursuant to the Court's May 22, 2008 Order. Rec. Doc. 12; Rec. Docs. 21-24. Claimants seek recovery of non-pecuniary damages for loss of society under the general maritime law. Rec. Doc. 72.

In the memorandum supporting their motion to dismiss Claimants' claim for loss of society damages, Petitioners argued that the general maritime law prohibits the recovery of loss of society damages for the wrongful death of a pleasure boat passenger who is neither a seaman nor a longshoreman in territorial waters. Rec. Doc. 59. Claimants opposed Petitioners' motion, reasoning that as a matter of law they are entitled to loss of society damages because no federal statute explicitly precludes such recovery. Rec. Doc. 72 at 3.

II. LAW & ANALYSIS

A. Wrongful Death Under the General Maritime Law

The Supreme Court created a general maritime law wrongful death action in Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc., 398 U.S. 375, 90 S.Ct. 1772, 26 L.Ed.2d 339 (1970), overruling The Harrisburg, 119 U.S. 199, 7 S.Ct. 140, 30 L.Ed. 358 (1886) which barred recovery based on the common law of England. At the time, representatives of a person killed at sea could seek damages under (1) the Death on the High Seas Act ("DOHSA"), 46 U.S.C. §§ 30302-30303, enacted in 1920, for the death of any person killed more than three nautical miles from shore; (2) the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 30104, enacted the same year, for the death of a seaman killed in any waters caused by the negligence of the seaman's employer; and (3) a state wrongful death statute, for the death of a person who died in territorial waters in circumstances covered by the statute.

None of these routes were available to the plaintiff in Moragne. DOHSA did not apply because her deceased husband was killed less than three nautical miles from shore, and the Jones Act did not apply because he was a longshoreman, not a seaman. Moragne, 398 U.S. at 376, 90 S.Ct. 1772. Finally, Florida's statute did not apply because, like many state wrongful death statutes, it was geared toward land accidents and did not provide a cause of action for unseaworthiness. Id. at 401, n. 15, 90 S.Ct. 1772. To fill this loophole, the Moragne court created a cause of action for wrongful death "caused by violation of maritime duties."³ Id. at 409, 90 S.Ct. 1772. While it did not specify the scope of who could commence that action, the Supreme Court later held that it covered seamen killed in territorial waters in addition to longshoremen. Miles v. Apex Marine Corp., 498 U.S. 19, 30, 111 S.Ct. 317, 112 L.Ed.2d 275 (1990). Neither court addressed whether the new cause of action covered the wrongful deaths of nonseafarers ⁴

killed in territorial waters.

B. Loss of Society Damages for Wrongful Death

1. Under DOHSA

Loss of society damages are not recoverable under DOHSA. Mobil Oil Corp. v. Higginbotham, 436 U.S. 618, 98 S.Ct. 2010, 56 L.Ed.2d 581 (1978). The statute explicitly provides for "pecuniary" damages and does not mention other types of damages. 46 U.S.C. § 30303. Although policy arguments existed in favor of loss of society damages for representatives of helicopter passengers who died beyond three nautical miles from shore, the Supreme Court reasoned that "Congress has struck the balance for us," and concluded that DOHSA "limited survivors to recovery of their pecuniary losses." Higginbotham, 436 U.S. at 623, 98 S.Ct. 2010.

2. Under the Jones Act

Loss of society damages are not recoverable under the Jones Act. Miles, 498 U.S. at 32, 111 S.Ct. 317. The Jones Act does not specify the damages available for wrongful death actions. However, the Miles court noted that the Act incorporated the recovery provisions of the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), which it interpreted as providing only for pecuniary damages. Id. (citing Michigan Central R. Co. v. Vreeland, 227 U.S. 59, 69-71, 33 S.Ct. 192, 57 L.Ed. 417 (1913)). The Miles court concluded that by "incorporating FELA unaltered into the Jones Act, Congress must have intended to incorporate the pecuniary limitation on damages as well." 498 U.S. at 32, 111 S.Ct. 317.

3. Under State Wrongful Death Statutes

To recover loss of society damages under a state's wrongful death statute, claimants must first show that the deceased was killed in territorial waters and that the state statute applies as opposed to federal statutory or judge-made law. Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A. v. Calhoun, 516 U.S. 199, 116 S.Ct. 619. The potentially applicable statute may not conflict with federal maritime principles. Id. at 215, n. 13, 116 S.Ct. 619. If the state statute is applicable, claimants must then show that the circumstances of the death meet the elements of the state statute. In Yamaha, the parents of a twelve year-old nonseafarer killed in territorial waters while using a jet ski sued the jet ski manufacturer for defective design under Pennsylvania's wrongful death and survival statute. 516 U.S. 199, 116 S.Ct. 619. The Supreme Court held that the statute applied because the Moragne cause of action did not invalidate state wrongful death statutes, and because no federal statute was applicable and the Pennsylvania statute did not conflict with federal maritime policies. Id. It held that the parents could seek damages under the state wrongful death statute. Id. at 216, 116 S.Ct. 619. See also American Dredging Co. v. Lambert, 81 F.3d 127 (11th Cir.1996)(holding that Florida wrongful death statute applied where families of nonseafarer motorboat passengers who died in Florida waters because of the negligent operation of a dredge pipeline claimed non-pecuniary damages). Claimants rely on Yamaha's suggestion that Moragne placed a "floor" on recovery for wrongful death rather than a "ceiling." Rec. Doc. 72 at 11 (citing Yamaha, 516 U.S. at 213-214, 116 S.Ct. 619). However, the Yamaha court made that suggestion in the context of the specific issue of whether Moragne eliminated state remedies, "launch[ing] a solitary federal regulatory scheme." Yamaha, 516 U.S. at 210, 116 S.Ct. 619. The parties agree that Alabama's wrongful death statute, Ala.1975 Code § 6-5-410, does not apply in this case. Rec. Doc. 59; Rec. Doc. 72. Therefore available remedies under Alabama's wrongful death statute are not at issue, and Yamaha's interpretation of Moragne in that instance does not apply to this case.

4. Under the General Maritime Law

The Moragne court declined to address the scope of damages under the new general maritime law wrongful death action. Scarborough v. Clemco Indus., 391 F.3d 660, 666 (5th Cir.2004). Courts have awarded loss of society damages in limited circumstances, depending on the decedent's status.⁵ This Court concludes that loss of society damages are not recoverable by representatives of nonseafarers killed in territorial waters under the general maritime law.

In Sea-Land Servs., Inc. v. Gaudet the dependent widow of a longshoreman could recover loss of society damages in a wrongful death action under the general maritime law. 414 U.S. 573, 94 S.Ct. 806, 39 L.Ed.2d 9 (1974). The Supreme Court framed the decision as part of maritime law's "special solicitude for those injured within its jurisdiction." Id. at 588, 94 S.Ct. 806. See also Randall v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 13 F.3d 888, 903 (5th Cir.1994)(overruled on other grounds)(holding that survivors of a longshoreman killed in Louisiana waters were entitled to loss of society damages under Gaudet); American Export Lines, Inc. v. Alvez, 446 U.S. 274, 276, 100 S.Ct. 1673, 64 L.Ed.2d 284 (1980)(extending Gaudet to hold that loss of society damages were available to the spouse of an injured longshoreman).

Claimants argue that Gaudet applies in the present case. They argue that the Gaudet court awarded loss of society damages under maritime law because the spouse could not recover damages under any state or federal statutes. Claimants point to a recent Supreme Court case holding that punitive damages were recoverable for tort actions under the Clean Water Act because there was "no clear indication of congressional intent to occupy the entire field of pollution remedies." Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 2605, 2619, 171 L.Ed.2d 570 (2008). They note that like the Clear Air Act...