Reed v. Seacoast Products, Inc.
| Decision Date | 10 October 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-889,83-889 |
| Citation | 458 So.2d 971 |
| Parties | Levene REED, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. SEACOAST PRODUCTS, INC., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Stockwell, Sievert, Viccellio, Clements & Shaddock, Robert W. Clements, Lake Charles, for defendant-appellant.
Raleigh Newman, Lake Charles, for plaintiff-appellee.
Before GUIDRY, LABORDE and YELVERTON, JJ.
Seacoast Products, Inc., and its insurer appeal jury findings of unseaworthiness, Jones Act negligence, liability for maintenance and cure, and an allegedly excessive damage award, while the plaintiff, Levene Reed, answers the appeal asking for increases in the damage award and attorney's fees, and an award for punitive damages. We increase attorney's fees from $700 to $7500, award punitive damages of $175,000, and otherwise affirm, finding no merit to any of the other assignments of error raised by any party.
The basis for the action was a slip and fall on August 25, 1981, on board the M/V SIKEOYNESS, a menhaden fishing vessel owned by defendant Seacoast Products, Inc., and insured by Northwestern National Insurance Company. Plaintiff, Levene Reed, 48, was the pilot of the vessel, which was underway in the Calcasieu Ship Channel heading for its fishing grounds in the Gulf of Mexico. At about 5:15 in the morning, as Reed was walking down the bridge of the wheelhouse toward the galley, he slipped in water and oil, and fell hard upon the steel deck. The fall and resulting injuries left him permanently disabled.
At the time of trial Reed had already undergone extensive surgery in Houston for the removal of two discs, and there was an indication he was in need of further back surgery for a developing Cauda Equina Syndrome. Defendants paid maintenance at the rate of $15 per day, except for periods of hospitalization, until August 1982, when maintenance was terminated. Just before trial in March 1983, defendants gave plaintiff a check for maintenance from August 1982 until October 25, 1982. Defendants never paid any of plaintiff's medical expenses, which, as of the date of trial, totaled $17,743.
Reed's suit against the defendants combined counts of unseaworthiness and Jones Act negligence as the basis for general and special damages. Additionally, plaintiff demanded maintenance and cure, and sought attorney's fees and punitive damages for the alleged arbitrary refusal of the shipowner to meet its maintenance and cure obligations. After a four-day trial, the jury returned a combination general and special verdict finding (1) the M/V SIKEOYNESS was unseaworthy, (2) its owner was negligent, (3) plaintiff was not himself negligent, and (4) plaintiff suffered damages entitling him to $325,000. The jury also found that (5) plaintiff was entitled to maintenance and cure, that (6) he had not reached maximum cure, that (7) the termination of maintenance and cure was arbitrary and unreasonable, and that (8) attorney's fees should be $700. For a reason undisclosed by the record, neither the court's charges to the jury nor the verdict form mentioned the issue of punitive damages, nor was this issue specifically addressed by the trial court in the judgment on the verdict.
The owner and insurer of the SIKEOYNESS attacks this judgment on several grounds. They contend that the jury erred in all its findings of fact, that the award was excessive, and that the award of both $325,000 and maintenance and cure operated to give plaintiff an improper double recovery of lost wages and the medical expenses. Defendants also questioned the ruling of the trial court excluding an item of physical evidence. The plaintiff answered the appeal and contends that the jury award was insufficient, that the attorney's fee of $700 was insufficient, and that the trial court should have made an award for punitive damages. We will address all of these issues raised by the parties, but first, it is necessary that we look at the appropriate standard of review for this court to test the jury's verdict.
In Ellender v. Texaco, Inc., 425 So.2d 291 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1983), we recognized our limited role in reviewing jury verdicts in civil cases involving claims of seamen under the federal Jones Act and federal maritime law. Under the federal jurisprudence, the appropriate standard of review to test the sufficiency of the evidence in Jones Act and unseaworthiness claims tried before a jury is whether there is a "reasonable evidentiary basis" for the jury's verdict. Loehr v. Offshore Logistics, Inc., 691 F.2d 758 (5th Cir.1982). As explained by Judge Tate in Loehr, the "reasonable evidentiary basis" standard in the federal system applies to the scrutiny of fact findings made by a jury, while the "clearly erroneous" standard applies to the review of findings by a judge, and there is a difference: reviewing a jury verdict, the appellate court exhausts its function once it determines that there is an evidentiary basis for that verdict. Id., at pp. 760-761. Bearing in mind, therefore, the limitations on our power of review, we will now turn to a consideration of the specific issues raised on appeal.
Under the admiralty doctrine of warranty of seaworthiness the owner of a vessel traditionally is absolutely liable for any injury sustained by a crew member in the course of his employment. Davis v. Hill Engineering, Inc., 549 F.2d 314 (5th Cir.1977). Under this doctrine the owner of the vessel has a duty to provide a vessel that is reasonably fit for its intended use, and this duty to provide a seaworthy vessel requires that its gear, appurtenances and operation must be reasonably safe. Drachenberg v. Canal Barge Co., Inc., 571 F.2d 912 (5th Cir.1978).
In the present case the plaintiff testified that he slipped in a puddle of water containing some oil on the deck of the wheelhouse. The captain of the vessel testified that upon inspection, the deck was wet where the water comes from off the roof of the wheelhouse, but he saw no grease or oil. The captain further stated that the vessel was designed to drain water and other substances from the roof and deck levels to the fishhold, but that the drain pipe had rusted and broken. The captain, the chief engineer and the plaintiff all testified that the hardening units leaked hydraulic oil in the area where plaintiff slipped, and that the unit was leaking at the time of the accident. Given these facts, according to the opinion of a safety expert, a slippery film of this heavy oil would be left on the walkway. Further testimony revealed there was no skid-proof material on the deck and no lighting in that area at the time.
In Curry v. Fluor Drilling Services, Inc., 715 F.2d 893 (5th Cir.1983) the court affirmed a finding that the accumulation of an oil based fluid known as "Black Magic" upon the walkway caused an unseaworthy condition. Also, in McCoy v. United States, 689 F.2d 1196 (4th Cir.1982) the court affirmed a district court's finding that an oil and water spill in the forced draft fan area caused an unseaworthy condition.
In the present case the jury had a reasonable evidentiary basis for finding that there was a water and oil accumulation on the deck of the SIKEOYNESS which caused an unseaworthy condition, and that that condition was the proximate cause of the accident.
The parties stipulated that plaintiff had seaman's status. Therefore, he was entitled to bring an action based on negligence under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. Sec. 688. Federal jurisprudence declares that evidence of "the slightest negligence" is sufficient to sustain a finding of Jones Act liability. Davis v. Hill Engineering, Inc., supra.
There was evidence presented to the jury that Seacoast Products had knowledge of the leaking hardening units. There was also testimony that the area had inadequate lighting and that there was no skid-proof material upon the deck. The jury heard testimony and saw photographs indicating that the drainage system had rusted, allowing water and oil to accumulate upon the deck. This accident happened on a Tuesday, and there was evidence the vessel's decks were cleaned only on weekends when it was in port. There was thus a reasonable evidentiary basis for this finding and the Jones Act verdict will remain undisturbed.
Defendants contend that the jury's finding that plaintiff himself was not negligent was erroneous, arguing that plaintiff was not watching where he was going and that he was not using the handrail that was there for his use.
"In contrast to the broad duty imposed upon a vessel owner to supply a safe work place, the seaman's duty to protect himself is slight." Ceja v. Mike Hooks, Inc., 690 F.2d 1191 (5th Cir.1982). But the duty does exist. Thezan v. Maritime Overseas Corporation, 708 F.2d 175 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 729, 79 L.Ed. 189 (1984).
In the present case the jury's finding that Reed was not negligent has reasonable support in the record. It was early in the morning that he traversed the bridge and the vessel lights that might have lit his way were not on, because they would have interfered with the vision of the captain who was manning the wheel while the plaintiff, the regular pilot, was getting his breakfast. The jury was therefore justified in not agreeing with the argument of defendants that the plaintiff should have been able to see the oily patch. Also, while plaintiff admitted that he was not using the rail, the jury was justified in concluding that there was no apparent need for him to use it at that time because the vessel was underway in calm inland waters at low speeds. The jury might also have concluded that holding the rail with one hand would not have prevented plaintiff from falling if his feet unexpectedly gave way. We affirm the finding that plaintiff was not negligent.
Appellant argues that the trial court erred in the exclusion of...
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