Powell v. Global Marine, LLC

Citation671 F.Supp.2d 830
Decision Date04 December 2009
Docket NumberCivil Action No. 08-3842.,Civil Action No. 09-3869.
PartiesCharles POWELL, et al. v. GLOBAL MARINE, LLC a/k/a Global Marine, Inc.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 5th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Louisiana)

H. Edward Sherman, James Edmon Cazalot, Jr., H. Edward Sherman, APLC, New Orleans, LA, for Charles Powell, Christopher Wyman.

Stephen R. Remsberg, Lemle & Kelleher, LLP, New Orleans, LA, for Global Marine, LLC.

ORDER AND REASONS

SARAH S. VANCE, District Judge.

Before the Court is defendant Global Marine LLC's Motion to Dismiss. R. Doc. 21.1 For the following reasons, the motion is GRANTED.

I. Background

These consolidated cases arise out of a voyage of the M/V DOUGLAS MACARTHUR ("MACARTHUR"), which sailed from Amelia, Louisiana, to the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic in May of 2005. Plaintiffs Charles Powell and Christopher Wyman joined the crew of the MACARTHUR as deckhands in April of 2005. Both were to receive payment of $175 per day from defendant, their maritime employer, to be paid on the first and fifteenth of each month. Plaintiffs allege that they were paid through the end of May, but did not receive their wages in June.

While on "shore leave" on June 28, 2005, Wyman suffered an injury to his ankle that rendered him unable to perform his duties as a deckhand. Exactly which shore this injury took place upon is not clear from the Complaints. Both Wyman and Powell reported the injury to the Master of the MACARTHUR and to Stanley Hendrickson, one of defendant's officers. Wyman alleges that he requested but did not receive medical treatment from defendant. After the injury, Powell volunteered to assist Wyman in seeking lodging and medical treatment, consistent with Hendrickson's expressed wishes. Plaintiffs allege that neither defendant nor the Master of the MACARTHUR arranged for food or lodging while the two sought medical treatment for Wyman. They further allege that they requested that defendant repatriate them to the United States, but defendant refused to do so. On July 9, 2005, the U.S. Coast Guard flew them back to the United States from the Dominican Republic. According to the Complaints, they never received the wages that were due to them from this time period.

Plaintiffs brought separate actions against defendant, which were consolidated in this Court. Both plaintiffs seek their unpaid wages in addition to double their daily wages for each day the payment was delayed under the Seaman's Wage Act. Powell contends that defendant owes him for twenty-eight days of unpaid wages from June of 2005, which leads to a total of $4,900. He argues in the alternative that, because Hendrickson expressed a desire that Powell should assist Wyman in locating medical care, Powell was performing work at the instructions of defendant up to July 9, 2005, and he is owed eleven additional days of wages: an additional $1,925. He provides two figures for how much he is owed for the delayed payment. He notes that if the period of delay is determined to have begun on June 28, he is owed $383,250 for the delay. If it is determined to have begun on July 16, he claims that defendant owes him $376,950.

Wyman similarly claims that he is owed $4,900 for unpaid wages from June of 2005, and that the double-wage penalty adds up to $383,250. He further seeks damages for maintenance and cure, as well as attorneys' fees and various compensatory damages for defendant's alleged failure to treat his injury.

Defendant has now moved to dismiss. It argues that the provisions of the Seaman's Wage Act do not apply to plaintiffs because the Act excepts vessels traveling to a port in the "West Indies" or those engaged in "coastwise commerce," and the voyage of the MACARTHUR falls into both categories. It additionally argues that Wyman's personal-injury claims were not filed within the applicable statute of limitations, and that his claims for unpaid wages and maintenance and cure are barred by the doctrine of laches. Defendant does not challenge Powell's claims for unpaid wages.

II. Legal Standard

To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the plaintiff must plead enough facts "to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1960, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 547, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). A claim is facially plausible when the plaintiff pleads facts that allow the court to "draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1940. A court must accept all well-pleaded facts as true and must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Lormand v. U.S. Unwired, Inc., 565 F.3d 228, 239 (5th Cir. 2009); Baker v. Putnal, 75 F.3d 190, 196 (5th Cir.1996). But the Court is not bound to accept as true legal conclusions couched as factual allegations. Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949.

A legally sufficient complaint must establish more than a "sheer possibility" that plaintiff's claim is true. Id. It need not contain detailed factual allegations, but it must go beyond labels, legal conclusions, or formulaic recitations of the elements of a cause of action. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. In other words, the face of the complaint must contain enough factual matter to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence of each element of the plaintiff's claim. Lormand, 565 F.3d at 256. If there are insufficient factual allegations to raise a right to relief above the speculative level, Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, or if it is apparent from the face of the complaint that there is an insuperable bar to relief, Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 215, 127 S.Ct. 910, 166 L.Ed.2d 798 (2007); Carbe v. Lappin, 492 F.3d 325, 328 & n. 9 (5th Cir.2007), the claim must be dismissed.

III. Discussion
A. The Applicability of the Double-Wage Provision of the Seaman's Wage Act

The parties disagree as to whether the double-wage provision of the Seaman's Wage Act applies to this case. Under certain provisions of this Act, a seaman whose wages are withheld "without sufficient cause" is entitled to twice his daily wages for each calendar day that payment is delayed. See 46 U.S.C. § 10313(g); see also id. § 10504(c). If the court finds that a seaman's wages were unreasonably withheld, it must apply the double-wage penalty. Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc., 458 U.S. 564, 570-71, 102 S.Ct. 3245, 73 L.Ed.2d 973 (1982) (holding that a court has no discretion in the assessment of the double-wage penalty); see also Fanos v. Maersk Line, Ltd., 363 F.3d 358, 361-62 (5th Cir.2004).

Two provisions of the Act determine when a seaman may take advantage of the double-wage provision. One applies to seamen on either a voyage between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States or "on a voyage between a port in the United States and a port in a foreign country (except a port in Canada, Mexico, or the West Indies)." 46 U.S.C. § 10301(a). Foreign voyages to the "West Indies" are explicitly excluded from the coverage of the statute.

The other provision of the Act applies to seamen on domestic voyages, specifically voyages "between a port in one State and a port in another State (except an adjoining State)."2 Id. § 10501(a). Seamen on voyages that fall into this category can avail themselves of certain entitlements under the statute, such as a signed shipping agreement, id. § 10502, and the ability for the seaman to demand portions of his wages at specified intervals during the voyage. Id. § 10504(a). The double-wage provision, however, does not apply to seamen on vessels that are "engaged in coastwise commerce." Id. § 10504(d)(1); see also Kaluom v. Stolt Offshore, Inc., 504 F.3d 511, 517 (5th Cir.2007) (holding that § 10301 and § 10501 limit the application of the double-wage provisions).

Here, the parties agree that the MACARTHUR stopped in the U.S. Virgin Islands to unload cargo before continuing to the Dominican Republic. Defendant contends that both the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic are part of the West Indies, and they are thus excluded from the section of the Seaman's Wage Act that allows double-wage penalties arising from foreign voyages. It further contends that, if the injury took place in the Virgin Islands, the voyage of the MACARTHUR is outside the coverage of the double-wage provision of the Act because it was engaged in "coastwise commerce." It would thus not qualify for a double-wage penalty under the provisions of the Seaman's Wage Act that pertain to domestic voyages.

Plaintiffs argue that the Virgin Islands are not, in fact, part of the West Indies, and that the provision applicable to voyages between U.S. ports does not apply because the Virgin Islands are not a state.

Again, the Complaints themselves do not specify where some of the relevant conduct took place. They indicate that the MACARTHUR set sail from Louisiana to the U.S. Virgin Islands, and that Wyman suffered his injury while on "shore leave." This injury rendered him "unable to climb aboard the vessel...." R. Doc. 1 at 5 (emphasis added); see also No. 09-3869, R. Doc. 1 at 3. The plaintiffs, however, were allegedly flown back to the United States from the Dominican Republic, not the U.S. Virgin Islands. Wyman's inability to board the MACARTHUR after his injury and plaintiffs' flight out of the Dominican Republic together give rise to the implication that the injury took place in the Dominican Republic. This is especially true because there is no suggestion in the Complaints how else the plaintiffs might have traveled to the Dominican Republic if Wyman was unable to board the MACARTHUR.

Again, the double-wage provision applies to a "voyage between a port in the United States and a port in a foreign country (except a port in Canada, Mexico, or the West Indies)." 46 U.S.C. § 10301(a)(1). The term "West...

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