Mahoney v. International Elevating Co.

• Decision Date: 14 November 1927
• Citation: 23 F.2d 130
• Parties: MAHONEY v. INTERNATIONAL ELEVATING CO., Inc., et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

23 F.2d 130 (1927)

MAHONEY v. INTERNATIONAL ELEVATING CO., Inc., et al.

District Court, E. D. New York.

November 14, 1927.

Harry S. Austin, of New York City, for plaintiff.

William E. Lowther, of New York City (Benjamin O. Loder, of New York City, of counsel), for defendant International Elevating Co., Inc.

Kirlin, Woolsey, Campbell, Hickox & Keating, of New York City (Vernon S. Jones, and Raymond Parmer, both of New York City, of counsel), for Ellerman's Wilson Line, Incorporated.

MOSCOWITZ, District Judge.

This is an action brought by Bridget Mahoney, as administratrix, to recover damages for the death of her husband, a stevedore, against the International Elevating Company, Inc., his employer, and the Ellerman & Wilson Line, Limited, owners and operators on the vessel upon which the accident happened. The plaintiff's intestate was an American citizen, employed as a stevedore by the International Elevating Company, Inc., a corporation existing under the laws of New Jersey. He was working on board a foreign vessel moored at Hoboken, N. J., owned by Ellerman & Wilson, Limited, a corporation existing under the laws of Great Britain. He was killed in the course of his employment as a stevedore.

The case was tried and submitted to the jury. The court charged that the Jones Act (46 USCA § 688 Comp. St. § 8337a) applied to the International Elevating Company, Inc., and that the New Jersey death statute (2 Comp. St. 1910, p. 1907, §§ 7-9) and the established rules of law concerning the duties that the owners of vessels owe to stevedores applied to Ellerman & Wilson Line, Limited, the owners of the ship. The jury awarded $50,000 damages to the plaintiff. Motions to set aside the verdict were made by the defendants on the usual grounds, and also upon the ground that the verdict was excessive. The court denied all motions of the International Elevating Company, Inc., except that decision was reserved on the motions that the court erred in submitting the case to the jury under the Jones Act; and, second, upon the ground that the verdict was excessive. The court denied the motions as to Ellerman & Wilson, Limited, on all grounds except that it reserved decision on the motion to set aside the verdict as excessive.

The law is well settled that a stevedore is a seaman within the purview of the Jones Act. International Stevedoring Co. v. Haverty, 272 U. S. 50, 47 S. Ct. 19, 71 L. Ed. 157. The questions whether the Jones Act applies to American seamen who sail on foreign vessels, or whether the Jones Act applies to stevedores who enter into contractual relationships with the owners of vessels of foreign registry are not presented. The question presented is whether the Jones Act applies to the case of a stevedore who receives injuries upon a foreign vessel in an American port while engaged in loading or unloading the same as an employee of an American stevedoring concern.

The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, in ...