Norwegian Cruise Lines, Ltd. v. Zareno

Decision Date24 June 1998
Docket NumberNo. 98-62,98-62
Citation712 So.2d 791
Parties23 Fla. L. Weekly D1525 NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES, LTD., f/k/a Kloster Cruise, Ltd., a Florida corporation for profit, Petitioner, v. Gregorio ZARENO, Respondents.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Curtis J. Mase, and Beverly D. Eisenstadt, Miami, for petitioner.

Leesfield, Leighton, Rubio & Mafhood, and Maria L. Rubio, Miami, for respondent.

Before GERSTEN, FLETCHER and SORONDO, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner Norwegian Cruise Lines, ("Norwegian") seeks certiorari review from the denial of its motion to strike respondent Gregorio Zareno's ("Zareno") request for punitive damages. We grant certiorari and direct the trial court to strike Zareno's claim for punitive damages based upon failure to comply with Section 768.72, Florida Statutes (1997).

In October of 1997, Zareno filed a maritime claim against Norwegian in state court claiming breach of maintenance and cure obligations. The complaint included a demand for punitive damages. Thereafter, Norwegian moved to strike the punitive damages demand on the basis that Zareno had failed to comply with state law procedures set forth in Section 768.72.

Section 768.72 requires a proffer of record evidence to support a punitive damages claim and states specifically:

In any civil action, no claim for punitive damages shall be permitted unless there is a reasonable showing by evidence in the record or proffered by the claimant which would provide a reasonable basis for recovery of such damages. The claimant may move to amend his complaint to assert a claim for punitive damages as allowed by the rules of civil procedure. The rules of civil procedure shall be liberally construed so as to allow the claimant discovery of evidence which appears reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence on the issue of punitive damages. No discovery of financial worth shall proceed until after the pleading concerning punitive damages is permitted.

Norwegian contended that by electing the state court forum, Zareno was compelled to comply with the procedural requirements of Section 768.72 and could not subject Norwegian to financial worth discovery absent the showing of a reasonable evidentiary basis for recovery of punitive damages.

Zareno responded by arguing that federal maritime law gave him the absolute right to plead punitive damages without the need to proffer record evidence. Zareno contended that Section 768.72 created a substantive condition precedent in direct conflict with federal maritime law and thus was inapplicable to federal maritime cases filed in state court. Apparently the trial court agreed with Zareno's reasoning and denied the motion to strike the punitive damages claim.

It is well established that federal maritime law generally applies to lawsuits arising from torts on navigable waters. See Rindfleisch v. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc., 498 So.2d 488 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986), review denied, 508 So.2d 15 (Fla.1987); Hallman v. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc., 459 So.2d 378 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); Rountree v. A.P. Moller S.S. Co., 218 So.2d 771 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969). However, a state court may apply state law to a maritime action so long as there is no conflict with federal maritime law. See Southworth Machinery Co., Inc. v. F/V Corey Pride, 994 F.2d 37 (1st. Cir.1993); Pacific Merchant Shipping Ass'n v. Aubry, 918 F.2d 1409 (9th Cir.1990).

Under the "savings to suitors" clause of the Judiciary Act of 1789, presently codified in the United States Code as Title 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1333, "a state, 'having concurrent jurisdiction, is free to adopt such remedies, and to attach to them such incidents, as it sees fit' so long as it does not attempt to [give in rem remedies or] make changes in 'substantive maritime law.' " Offshore Logistics, Inc. v. Tallentire, 477 U.S. 207, 221-222, 106 S.Ct. 2485, 91 L.Ed.2d 174 (1986) citing Madruga v. Superior Court, 346 U.S. 556, 560-561, n. 12, 74 S.Ct. 298, 98 L.Ed. 290 (1954). Thus state courts may entertain maritime causes of action and may apply state law to supplement federal maritime law if the state law does not conflict with federal law or interfere with uniformity.

Ascertaining whether application of a particular state law materially frustrates a fundamental tenet of admiralty law is dependent upon the application of a "reverse-Erie analysis." See Offshore Logistics, Inc. v. Tallentire, 477 U.S. at 207, 106 S.Ct. 2485; Garan, Inc. v. M/V Aivik, 907 F.Supp. 397 (S.D.Fla.1995). State law will not apply if: (1) the state law is found to conflict with substantive maritime law, or (2) the state law affects remedies peculiar to maritime law. See Offshore Logistics, Inc. v. Tallentire, 477 U.S. at 223, 106 S.Ct. 2485.

In other words, states may apply state law to supplement maritime law if that application does not flatly contradict maritime law. See Kossick v. United Fruit Co., 365 U.S. 731, 81 S.Ct. 886, 6 L.Ed.2d 56 (1961); Muratore v. M/S Scotia Prince, 656 F.Supp. 471 (D.Maine 1987). The Ninth Circuit has explained further that state law will apply even though the "states' supplementation of admiralty law necessarily creates some discord in that law." Pacific Merchant Shipping Ass'n v. Aubry, 918 F.2d at 1424. The state law must "unduly disrupt" admiralty to be preempted. Id. at 1424. See also Ellenwood v. Exxon Shipping Co., 984 F.2d 1270, (1st. Cir.), cert. denied, 508 U.S. 981, 113 S.Ct. 2987, 125 L.Ed.2d 682 (1993)(state law preempted only if found in direct conflict with basic maritime principles). Therefore we must determine whether the requirement in Section 768.72 of showing a reasonable basis for punitive damages contradicts substantive maritime law.

Federal maritime law does not provide plaintiffs with an absolute right to bring a substantive claim for punitive damages. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that punitive damages are recoverable from a vessel owner only where the denial of maintenance and cure payments is found to be arbitrary and willful. See Hines v. J.A. LaPorte, Inc., 820 F.2d 1187, 1189 (11th Cir.1987); but see Guevara v. Maritime Overseas Corp., 59 F.3d 1496 (5th Cir.1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1046, 116 S.Ct. 706, 133 L.Ed.2d 662 (1996)(punitive damages not available for a shipowner's willful failure to pay maintenance and cure); Glynn v. Roy Al Boat Management Corp., 57 F.3d 1495 (9th Cir.1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1046, 116 S.Ct. 708, 133 L.Ed.2d 663 (1996)(same); Kraljic v. Berman Enterprises, Inc., 575 F.2d 412 (2d Cir.1978)(same). As stated in Morales v. Garijak, Inc., 829 F.2d 1355, 1358 (5th Cir.1987):

Upon receiving a claim for maintenance and cure, the shipowner need not immediately commence payments; he is entitled to investigate and require corroboration of the claim. If, after investigating, the shipowner unreasonably rejects the claim, when in fact the seaman is due maintenance and cure, the owner becomes liable not only for the maintenance and cure payments, but also for compensatory damages. These are the damages that have resulted from the failure to pay, such as the aggravation of the seaman's condition, determined by the usual principles applied in tort cases to measure compensatory damages.

If the shipowner, in failing to pay maintenance and cure, has not only...

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