Vallot v. Central Gulf Lines, Inc.
| Decision Date | 03 April 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 78-3835,78-3835 |
| Citation | 641 F.2d 347 |
| Parties | 7 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1691, 1981 O.S.H.D. (CCH) P 25,354 James H. VALLOT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CENTRAL GULF LINES, INC., and S. S. GREEN FOREST, In Rem, Defendants-Appellees. Summary Calendar. . Unit A |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
John P. Keegan, New Orleans, La., for plaintiff-appellant.
Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre, Glenn G. Goodier, New Orleans, La., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Before BROWN, POLITZ and TATE, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff, James Vallot, appeals jury verdict in favor of his employer, Central Gulf Lines, Inc., and its vessel, the S. S. Green Forest, in action brought under the Jones Act for negligence and under general maritime law for unseaworthiness. He argues on appeal District Court erred in (i) denying his motion for new trial because there is no evidence to support the jury's verdict the vessel was seaworthy and the shipowner not negligent, and excluding evidence of (ii) his expert medical witness, (iii) certain tape recordings, and (iv) two volumes of the Federal Register concerning OSHA regulations. Finding all his contentions without merit, we affirm.
Vallot was employed by Central Gulf as a bosun on its vessel the S. S. Green Forest. 1 As part of his duties, Vallot prepared paint and solvents in the ship's paint locker, as well as set up scaffolding for painting various parts and items on the ship. While the vessel was at anchor in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Vallot was attacked without provocation by another crewmember wielding a fire ax. At no time was Vallot struck or in any way visibly touched by the crewmember or the hatchet. Shortly after the attack, Vallot noticed a discoloration of his urine. The next day, Vallot discovered blood clots in his mouth, dark spots on all extremities of his body, and that he was urinating blood. Being taken off the vessel and examined by a Chittagong doctor, Vallot was diagnosed as having contracted thrombocytopenia purpura, a blood disease affecting the platelets. 2 He was treated in a Chittagong clinic for fifteen days before being transferred to the U. S. Public Health Service Hospital in New Orleans where he was hospitalized for two and one-half months.
To recover for loss of wages, permanent disability, medical expenses, pain, and suffering, Vallot brought this action against Central Gulf, in personam, and the S. S. Green Forest, in rem, for negligence and unseaworthiness in causing his illness because he (i) had to work in a paint locker inhaling toxic fumes, and (ii) was attacked violently by one of the other crewmembers. After presentation of the evidence at trial, however, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Central Gulf and the Green Forest. Alleging an absolute absence of evidence in the record to support the jury's verdict, Vallot moved for a new trial as a matter of law. District Court overruled, however, concluding ample evidence was presented to warrant the jury finding that neither the sniffing of paint fumes on board the vessel nor the hatchet attack could have contributed to the onset of Vallot's disease or rendered the ship unseaworthy.
Vallot first contends District Court erred in denying him a new trial because there is no evidence to support the jury's verdict the vessel was seaworthy and the shipowner was not negligent. On review of a denial of a motion for new trial, the function of this Court is to review whether the trial judge abused his discretion in denying the motion or whether "as a matter of law the denial of a new trial was erroneous because there was an 'absolute absence of evidence to support the jury's verdict.' " Urti v. Transport Commercial Corp., 479 F.2d 766, 769 (5th Cir. 1973), quoting Indamer Corp. v. Crandon, 217 F.2d 391, 393 (5th Cir. 1954); accord Bailey v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co., 613 F.2d 1385, 1391 (5th Cir. 1980). The standard for testing sufficiency of evidence in this Jones Act case is whether there is a reasonable evidentiary basis for the jury's verdict. Campbell v. Seacoast Products, Inc., 581 F.2d 98, 99 (5th Cir. 1978). 3
In deciding whether there is a reasonable basis for the jury's finding, we must keep in mind the special warranty of seaworthiness a ship owner owes to his crew. 2 M. NORRIS, THE LAW OF SEAMEN § 613, at 168 (3d ed. 1970). This warranty extends to unseaworthiness caused by a "defective" crew as readily as it does to defective equipment or a leaky ship. Clevenger v. Star Fish & Oyster Co., 325 F.2d 397, 400 (5th Cir. 1963). "A seaman with a proclivity for assaulting people may, indeed, be a more deadly risk than a rope with a weak strand or a hull with a latent defect." Boudoin v. Lykes Bros. S. S. Co., 348 U.S. 336, 339-40, 75 S.Ct. 382, 385, 99 L.Ed. 354, 358-59 (1955). The test for determining if a seaman is dangerous is one who is not equal in disposition to an ordinary seaman, and whose presence makes the vessel unseaworthy as a matter of law. Claborn v. Star Fish & Oyster Co., Inc., 578 F.2d 983, 985 (5th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 936, 99 S.Ct. 1281, 59 L.Ed.2d 494 (1979).
The burden of proving proximate cause in actions based on general maritime law and the Jones Act is very light and on the plaintiff. Davis v. Hill Engineering, Inc., 549 F.2d 314, 331 (5th Cir. 1977). In the instant case, however, Vallot failed to meet even this light burden his illness was caused either by the attack or by the allegedly toxic fumes present in the paint locker. The doctor who studied Vallot's record while hospitalized in the U. S. Public Health Service Hospital testified Vallot's illness developed over a period of time and was not a type which would have been caused by fear or the emotional upset of someone attacking him with a hatchet. Moreover, the doctor opined the type of thrombocytopenia Vallot had contracted could not be acquired by sniffing paint fumes, but instead was probably caused by a virus or a drug such as aspirin.
Even ignoring the medical possibilities, Vallot failed to prove any unseaworthiness or negligence related to his condition. The paint locker aboard the Green Forest was approved as such by the United States Coast Guard. Both the United States Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping inspected the vessel several times each year, including the paint locker, and found it to be proper and in compliance with all rules and regulations. Further, all...
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