Marine Stevedoring Corporation v. Oosting, Civ. No. 4800.

CourtUnited States District Courts. 4th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Virginia)
Citation238 F. Supp. 78
Decision Date08 February 1965
PartiesMARINE STEVEDORING CORPORATION and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Petitioners, v. Jerry C. OOSTING, Deputy Commissioner, United States Employees' Compensation Commission, 5th Compensation District, Respondent.
Docket NumberCiv. No. 4800.

238 F. Supp. 78

MARINE STEVEDORING CORPORATION and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Petitioners,
v.
Jerry C. OOSTING, Deputy Commissioner, United States Employees' Compensation Commission, 5th Compensation District, Respondent.

Civ. No. 4800.

United States District Court E. D. Virginia, Norfolk Division.

February 8, 1965.


Parsons & Powers, L. S. Parsons, Jr., John A. Field, III, Norfolk, Va., for Marine Stevedoring Corp. and Liberty Mut. Ins. Co.

Amato, Babalas, Breit, Cohen, Rutter & Friedman, C. Arthur Rutter, Jr., Norfolk, Va., for intervenor, Lillian Vann.

C. V. Spratley, Jr., U. S. Atty., Norfolk, Va., Leavenworth Colby, Ad. & Shipping Section, U. S. Department of Justice, Washington, D. C., for respondent.

WALTER E. HOFFMAN, Chief Judge.

Petitioners, the employer and its compensation insurance carrier, respectively, of John Robert Vann, request an injunction restraining the Deputy Commissioner from enforcing an award of compensation benefits, pursuant to an order dated

238 F. Supp. 79
August 21, 1964, wherein death benefits were directed to be paid to Lillian Vann, the widow of the deceased. The award was, of course, under the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq

The deceased employee met his death on April 30, 1963, according to the following summarization of facts as found by the Deputy Commissioner:

"* * * That on said day the employer had a contract for the handling of lines and cables in mooring and movement of the S/S `JAMES E. HAVILAND' and for cleaning of the ship after the grain cargo was discharged; that the ship was berthed sternwise at the Norfolk and Western Pier and secured by two bow lines, three stern lines, one wire cable from bow of ship to winch on pier and one wire cable from stern to winch on pier; that the primary purpose of the winches and cables is for moving a ship alongside the pier in parallel, in lieu of using a tug to move the vessel forward or aft in loading or unloading operations, and both winches are used at the same time; that the winches are located at a fixed position on the pier and cables attached thereto run in each direction to pulleys at certain locations on the pier some distance beyond both ends of ship; from the pulleys the cables are reversed a number of feet, looped around bollards and from there the cables run to attachments on ship; that said pier was built on concrete piling and extends at a right angle from shore at least 3500 feet into the Elizabeth River; that on said day the ship was moved sternwise necessitating adjustment in the lines attached to stern bollard on pier; that on said day the deceased employee herein while performing service as a foreman for the employer sustained accidental injury which occurred when he struck the water and drowned; that this injury and his death by drowning occurred when he was on the off-shore side of the cable and about twelve inches from the edge of the pier as he and a fellow worker lifted the cable off the stern bollard, causing the heavy cable to straighten out and precipitating them off the pier into the Elizabeth River * * *."

The sole issue is whether or not the fatal injury occurred "upon the navigable waters of the United States." The Deputy Commissioner answered this inquiry in the affirmative. We agree and his decision is affirmed, with a resulting dismissal of the petition for injunction.

For what it may be worth, we...

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10 practice notes
  • Pittston Stevedoring Corp. v. Dellaventura, s. 1004
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)
    • 6 Diciembre 1976
    ...to the ships, although coverage presumably would have existed had they been hurled into the water, Marine Stevedoring Corp. v. Oosting, 238 F.Supp. 78 (E.D.Va.1965), aff'd, 398 F.2d 900 (4 Cir. 1968) (en banc), 11 or injured on deck while performing part of the same operation, Calbeck v. Tr......
  • Marine Stevedoring Corporation v. Oosting, 10060
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)
    • 20 Junio 1968
    ...off the pier and into the river where he drowned. Death benefits awarded by the deputy commissioner were affirmed by the District Court. 238 F.Supp. 78 In Nos. 10,298 and 10,299, Johnson and Klosek were members of a longshoremen's "gang" engaged in loading a cargo of steel beams aboard the ......
  • Northeast Marine Terminal Company, Inc v. Caputo International Terminal Operating Company, Inc v. Blundo, s. 76-444 and 76-454
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 17 Junio 1977
    ...even though coverage might have existed had the men been hurled into the water by the accident, Marine Stevedoring Corp. v. Oosting, 238 F.Supp. 78 (ED Va. 1965), aff'd, 398 F.2d 900 (CA4 1968) (en banc),16 or been injured on the Page 260 deck of the ship while performing part of the same o......
  • Merrill v. Chicago & Illinois Midland Ry., 88-3177.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 7th Circuit. United States District Courts. 7th Circuit. Central District of Illinois
    • 15 Agosto 1990
    ...Operating Co. v. Johnson, 396 U.S. 212, 90 S.Ct. 347, 24 L.Ed.2d 371 (1969), and a related case, Marine Stevedoring Corp. v. Oosting, 238 F.Supp. 78 (E.D.Va.1965), aff'd, 398 F.2d 900 (4th Cir. 1968) (en banc), four workers were injured or killed when a crane knocked them from their workpla......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
10 cases
  • Pittston Stevedoring Corp. v. Dellaventura, s. 1004
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)
    • 6 Diciembre 1976
    ...to the ships, although coverage presumably would have existed had they been hurled into the water, Marine Stevedoring Corp. v. Oosting, 238 F.Supp. 78 (E.D.Va.1965), aff'd, 398 F.2d 900 (4 Cir. 1968) (en banc), 11 or injured on deck while performing part of the same operation, Calbeck v. Tr......
  • Marine Stevedoring Corporation v. Oosting, 10060
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)
    • 20 Junio 1968
    ...off the pier and into the river where he drowned. Death benefits awarded by the deputy commissioner were affirmed by the District Court. 238 F.Supp. 78 In Nos. 10,298 and 10,299, Johnson and Klosek were members of a longshoremen's "gang" engaged in loading a cargo of steel beams aboard the ......
  • Northeast Marine Terminal Company, Inc v. Caputo International Terminal Operating Company, Inc v. Blundo, s. 76-444 and 76-454
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 17 Junio 1977
    ...even though coverage might have existed had the men been hurled into the water by the accident, Marine Stevedoring Corp. v. Oosting, 238 F.Supp. 78 (ED Va. 1965), aff'd, 398 F.2d 900 (CA4 1968) (en banc),16 or been injured on the Page 260 deck of the ship while performing part of the same o......
  • Merrill v. Chicago & Illinois Midland Ry., 88-3177.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 7th Circuit. United States District Courts. 7th Circuit. Central District of Illinois
    • 15 Agosto 1990
    ...Operating Co. v. Johnson, 396 U.S. 212, 90 S.Ct. 347, 24 L.Ed.2d 371 (1969), and a related case, Marine Stevedoring Corp. v. Oosting, 238 F.Supp. 78 (E.D.Va.1965), aff'd, 398 F.2d 900 (4th Cir. 1968) (en banc), four workers were injured or killed when a crane knocked them from their workpla......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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