Shannon v. Union Barge Line Corp., 10593.
| Decision Date | 04 March 1952 |
| Docket Number | No. 10593.,10593. |
| Parties | SHANNON v. UNION BARGE LINE CORP. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Hymen Schlesinger, Pittsburgh, Pa., for appellant.
John R. Bredin, Pittsburgh, Pa., Dalzell, McFall, Pringle & Bredin, Pittsburgh, Pa., for appellee.
Before GOODRICH and HASTIE, Circuit Judges, and MODARELLI, District Judge.
This case involves a suit for injury to a barge employee on an Ohio River steamer, the "C. W. Talbot," owned and operated by the defendant. She has recovered for maintenance and cure. D.C., 96 F.Supp. 916. The present suit is based on a claim of negligence under the Jones Act and a claim that the vessel was unseaworthy.
The accident occurred as Elizabeth Shannon had finished her cleaning work in a stateroom on the "C. W. Talbot." She stepped from the door leading out to the deck, slipped on the deck and hurt herself as she fell against a metallic beam or bar which went diagonally across the doorway. Her suit was timely brought and the case was tried to a jury. The trial judge denied a motion for directed verdict. Following the verdict by the jury for the plaintiff, he set it aside and ordered a judgment n. o. v. for the defendant. D.C., 100 F.Supp. 13.
With regard to the claim based on alleged unseaworthiness, little need be said. The unseaworthiness is predicated upon the presence of this iron bar several inches wide which went diagonally across the doorway. It did not completely block the passageway but at the bottom of the doorway extended about three-fourths of the way across. It was a support built into the vessel and was one side of the structure which carried the paddle wheel of the vessel, a stern wheeler. There was nothing unseaworthy about it. True, it did partially block the doorway. It was, however, no hidden danger. There was another exit on the other side of the stateroom which was available to this employee as well as all the others. If she chose, for her own convenience, a quicker means of egress, albeit one somewhat more risky, that does not show unseaworthiness in the vessel.
Furthermore, one may doubt that the risk to her was increased by this bar across part of the doorway. There was still room to get out and she did safely get out. The only injury that came to plaintiff from the bar was that she, according to her story, hit her back on it when she fell. This injury could as well have happened if she had hit a closed door or railing or any other hard substance when she slipped.
The negligence claim requires more discussion. Shannon says she slipped on an oily spot on the deck. Presence of oil where she fell was denied by the master of the vessel and other employees. But this point must, after verdict, be taken in her favor.
Assuming that there was oil on the deck, how did it get there and who put it there? It is argued on Shannon's...
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