Schwartz v. Compagnie General Transatlantique
| Decision Date | 07 May 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 65 Civ. 3409.,65 Civ. 3409. |
| Citation | 285 F. Supp. 473 |
| Parties | Robert J. SCHWARTZ, Plaintiff, v. COMPAGNIE GENERAL TRANSATLANTIQUE, Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization Service, Third-Party Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Koenigsberg, Norman & Drangel, New York City, for plaintiff.
Hill, Betts, Yamaoka, Freehill & Longcope, New York City, for defendant and third-party plaintiff, Thomas H. Healey and Robert S. Blanc, Jr., New York City, of counsel.
Robert M. Morgenthau, U. S. Atty., Southern Dist. of New York, for third-party defendant, Louis E. Greco and Peter Martin Klein, New York City, of counsel.
The United States, third-party defendant, moves pursuant to rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for summary judgment dismissing the third-party complaint of the defendant, Compagnie General Transatlantique.
Plaintiff is an immigrant inspector employed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. On October 28, 1964 he was aboard defendant's liner, the S.S. France, clearing passengers for admission into the United States. He claims that he tripped and fell on carpeting maintained by defendant in a dangerous condition. The defendant and the United States have stipulated that the third-party complaint seeks recovery "solely upon an implied contract of workmanlike performance arising out of the status existing" between them on the day the accident happened.
Defendant's claim over against the United States is predicated on the well-established doctrine that a shipowner may claim over against a stevedoring contractor when an employee of the latter sues the shipowner for injuries sustained due to the alleged negligence of the shipowner. Ryan Stevedoring Co. v. Pan-Atlantic S.S. Corp., 350 U.S. 124, 76 S.Ct. 232, 100 L.Ed. 133 (1956). Such an action is based solely on the contractual obligation existing between the contractor and the shipowner to perform its work in a reasonably safe manner. It is not founded on tort. It cannot be defeated by the third party's claim that its liability to an employee is governed solely by workmen's compensation. Weyerhaeuser S.S. Co. v. United States, 372 U.S. 597, 83 S.Ct. 926, 10 L.Ed.2d 1 (1963).
The flaw in the shipowner's argument here is that there was no contractual relationship between it and the United States as existed in Ryan, supra, or Mortensen v. A/S Glittre, 348 F.2d 383, 385 (2d Cir. 1965) (marine painter); Booth S.S. Co. v. Meier & Oelhaf Co., 262 F.2d 310, 313 (2d Cir. 1958) (engine repairer); Smith v. Brown & Root Marine Operators, Inc., 243 F.Supp. 130, 136 (W.D.La.1965), aff'd, 376 F.2d 852 (5th Cir. 1967) (marine diver); Horton v. Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc., 326 F.2d 104, 107 (2d Cir. 1964) ...
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Penn Tanker Company v. United States
...Service, Inc., 5 Cir. 1967, 377 F.2d 511, cert. denied, 1967, 389 U.S. 849, 88 S.Ct. 102, 19 L.Ed.2d 118; Schwartz v. Compagnie General Transatlantique, S.D.N.Y.1968, 285 F.Supp. 473. Here there was no express or implied contractual relationship between the parties. Finally, assuming arguen......
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Sheridan v. DiGiorgio, 73-C-7.
...indication of the Second Circuit's inclination to adopt the "majority approach" can be discerned from Schwartz v. Compagnie General Transatlantique, 285 F.Supp. 473 (S.D.N.Y.), aff'd 405 F.2d 270 (2d Cir. 1968). In that case, a United States immigrant inspector was injured while engaged in ......