Minnie v. Port Huron Terminal Co
Decision Date | 03 June 1935 |
Docket Number | No. 678,678 |
Citation | 295 U.S. 647,79 L.Ed. 1631,55 S.Ct. 884 |
Parties | MINNIE v. PORT HURON TERMINAL CO. et al |
Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Messrs. Eugene F. Black and Jesse P. Wolcott, both of Port Huron, Mich., for petitioner.
Petitioner, a longshoreman, was injured at Port Huron while unloading a vessel lying in navigable water. He was about his work on the deck of the vessel when he was struck by a swinging hoist, lifting cargo from a hatch, and was precipitated upon the wharf. He sought compensation under the Compensation Act of the State of Michigan (Comp. Laws Mich. 1929, § 8407 et seq., as amended). His employer, the Port Huron Terminal Company, contended that the accident occurred upon navi- gable water and that the state law did not apply. The defense was overruled by the state commission in the view that the injury must have been occasioned by petitioner's fall upon the wharf, and hence that the claim was within the state statute, although the injury would not have been received except for the force applied to his person while on the vessel. The Supreme Court of the State vacated the commission's award, holding that the federal law controlled. 269 Mich. 295, 257 N.W. 831. Because on an asserted conflict with decisions of this Court, a writ of certiorari was granted. 294 U.S. 704, 55 S.Ct. 548, 79 L.Ed. —-.
We have held that the case of an employee injured upon navigable waters while engaged in a maritime service is governed by the maritime law. Southern Pacific Company v. Jensen, 244 U.S. 205, 37 S.Ct. 524, 61 L.Ed. 1086, L.R.A. 1918C, 451, Ann. Cas. 1917E, 900; Grant Smith-Porter Ship Company v. Rohde, 257 U.S. 469, 477, 42 S.Ct. 157, 66 L.Ed. 321, 25 A.L.R. 1008. It is otherwise if the injury takes place on land. State Industrial Commission v. Nordenholt Corp., 259 U.S. 263, 272, 273, 42 S.Ct. 473, 66 L.Ed. 933, 25 A.L.R. 1013; Nogueira v. New York, N.H. & H.R. Co., 281 U.S. 128, 133, 50 S.Ct. 303, 74 L.Ed. 754. In the instant case, the injury was due to the blow which petitioner received from the swinging crane. It was that blow received on the vessel in navigable water which gave rise to the cause of action, and the maritime character of that cause of action is not altered by the fact that the petitioner was thrown from the vessel to the land.
We had the converse case before us in T. Smith & Son v. Taylor, 276 U.S. 179, 48 S.Ct. 228, 72 L.Ed. 520. There a longshoreman, employed in the unloading of a vessel at a dock, was standing upon a stage that rested solely upon the wharf and projected a few feet over the water to or near the vessel. He was struck by a sling loaded with cargo, which was being lowered over the vessel's side, and was knocked into the water, where some time later he was found dead. It was urged that the suit was solely for the death which occurred in the water, and hence, that the case was exclusively within the admiralty jurisdiction. We held the argument to be untenable. We said: ...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
In re Dearborn Marine Service, Inc.
...knocked from wharf staging into water by sling being lowered from vessel; state law applicable, with Minnie v. Port Huron Term. Co., 295 U.S. 647, 55 S.Ct. 884, 79 L.Ed. 1631 (1935) longshoreman knocked by hoist from vessel onto adjacent wharf; federal law applicable. 23 A seaman's right to......
-
Executive Jet Aviation, Inc v. City of Cleveland, Ohio
...the pier, the Court upheld admiralty jurisdiction because the cause of action arose on the vessel. Minnie v. Port Huron Terminal Co., 295 U.S. 647, 55 S.Ct. 884, 79 L.Ed. 1631 (1935). See also The Admiral People, 295 U.S. 649, 55 S.Ct. 885, 79 L.Ed. 1633 Other serious difficulties with the ......
-
Victory Carriers, Inc v. Law 8212 54 18 8212 19, 1971
...at 349—350; Swanson v. Marra Bros., Inc., 328 U.S. 1, 6, 66 S.Ct. 869, 871, 90 L.Ed. 1045 (1946); Minnie v. Port Huron Terminal Co., 295 U.S. 647, 648, 55 S.Ct. 884, 885, 79 L.Ed. 1631 (1935); T. Smith & Son v. Taylor, supra, 276 U.S., at 182, 48 S.Ct., at 229; State Industrial Comm'n v. No......
-
Davis v. Department of Labor and Industries of Washington
...276 U.S. 179, 48 S.Ct. 228, 72 L.Ed. 520; Vancouver S.S. v. Rice, 288 U.S. 445, 43 S.Ct. 420, 77 L.Ed. 885; Minnie v. Port Huron Terminal, 295 U.S. 647, 55 S.Ct. 884, 79 L.Ed. 1631. 4 For this expression of federal policy see the report of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on the Longsh......