Voight v. R.L. Eldridge Const. Inc.
| Decision Date | 08 February 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:04-CV-532.,1:04-CV-532. |
| Citation | 422 F.Supp.2d 742 |
| Parties | Charles William VOIGHT v. R.L. ELDRIDGE CONSTRUCTION INC., Gabby's Dock Shipyard |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Texas |
Charles William Voight, Port Arthur, TX, Pro se.
Peter Thompson, Thompson & Reilley, P.C., Houston, TX, for Defendants.
ORDER ADOPTING MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
The court referred this case to the Honorable Earl S. Hines, United States magistrate judge, at Beaumont, Texas, for consideration pursuant to applicable laws and orders of this court. The court has received and considered the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to such order, along with the record, pleadings and all available evidence.
The magistrate judge recommended that defendants' motions to dismiss and for partial summary judgment be granted. Further, because that will dispose of all parties and claims, final judgment should be entered.
Plaintiff has not objected to the magistrate judge's proposed findings, conclusions of law or recommendation of disposition. However, defendants filed an objection to footnote nine (9) in the report (See Docket No. 61). For the purpose of preserving their argument in the event of appeal, defendants request that the court amend the magistrate judge's report by excluding footnote nine. Defendants claim footnote nine suggests they "failed to specifically address the issue of whether the work barges in question qualify as `vessels' for the purposes of the Jones Act" (See Def.'s Objections at 1).
Upon conducting a de novo review of the magistrate judge's report and defendant's objection, the court first concludes footnote nine does not intimate that defendants failed to address the vessel issue. Rather the magistrate judge's analysis does not specifically address the vessel issue. The magistrate judge's report correctly determined that plaintiff was not a "seaman" under the Jones Act because no admissible evidence showed he contributed to the function of a vessel or that he had a substantial connection to a vessel. Footnote nine merely recites that the magistrate judge's report only "assumes arguendo" that the work barges in question were vessels.
In any event, Fifth Circuit precedent has changed the definition of a "vessel" under the Jones Act since the magistrate judge's report was filed. In response to Stewart v. Dutra Construction Co., 543 U.S. 481, 125 S.Ct. 1118, 160 L.Ed.2d 932 (2005), the circuit court in Holmes v. Atlantic Sounding Company, Inc. recently adopted Title 1, United States Code, Section 3, as the definition of "vessel" for claims under the Jones Act. Section 3 provides: "The word `vessel' includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water." See 437 F.3d 441 (5th Cir.2006) (emphasis in original). The Supreme Court in Stewart held that, "[Older § 3, a `vessel' is any watercraft practically capable of maritime transportation, regardless of its primary purpose or state of transit at a particular moment." Id. at 1129. The circuit's new definition of "vessel" is now sweepingly broad, and it reveals that watercrafts formerly held not to be "vessels" under the Jones Act may now be "vessels" for "seaman" status purposes. Consequently, the magistrate judge's arguendo assumption was not error.
The court has considered the magistrate judge's report and conducted a de novo review of defendant's objection. The court concludes that the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the magistrate judge are correct. Defendant's objection is OVERRULED. Accordingly, the report of the magistrate judge is ADOPTED. It is therefore
ORDERED that defendant's motion for partial summary judgment (Docket No. 46) is GRANTED. It is further
ORDERED that defendant's Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss (Docket No. 47) is GRANTED. The purpose of referral having been served, it is further
ORDERED that the reference to the magistrate judge is VACATED.
Because both motions above dispose of all parties and claims, the court will enter final judgment separately.
This report addresses defendants' motions to dismiss and for partial summary judgment.1
Plaintiff sues his former employer to recover compensatory damages for on-the-job personal injuries sustained by plaintiff and allegedly caused by his employer's negligence. Plaintiff invokes this court's subject-matter jurisdiction under two federal statutes: (1) Longshore & Harbor Worker's Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 901-950 (2000), and (2) Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.App. § 688 (2000).
Plaintiff is Charles W. Voight (Voight), a resident of Port Arthur, Texas. Plaintiff appears pro se (self represented).2
Defendants are R.L. Eldridge Construction, Inc. (Eldridge) and Gabby's Dock Shipyard. Eldridge is a Texas corporation with its principal office in Sabine Pass, Texas. Eldridge is a marine construction company that during relevant times operated a docking facility known as "Gabby's Dock" located near the farthest point of Sabine Pass, Texas, and extending into the Gulf of Mexico.
This report generally adopts the version of facts advocated by plaintiff (the nonmovant), or as recited by defendant without opposition from plaintiff.3
In July, 2003, Voight was employed by Eldridge as a crane rigger.4 His duty station was Gabby's Dock, which Eldridge leased to R & R Marine for refurbishing an oil drilling rig. The project was known as the "Ensco 60 project."
Eldridge's flat-top barges were used as work platforms and for movement of construction 'materials from Gabby's Dock to the rig. Compl. at 3, Aug. 19, 2004; Def.'s Partial Summ. J. Mot. at 2, ¶ 3, June 29, 2005; Pl.'s Resp. at 8, ¶ 3, Aug. 1, 2005. Eldridge's barges were moved into place alongside the drilling rig by push boats, and then were secured to the dock and rig legs. Pl.'s Resp. at 8. Construction materials were moved from Gabby's Dock onto the barges by Eldridge's dockside crane.5 Compl. at 3; Def.'s Partial Summ. J. Mot. at 2.
Eldridge sub-contracted its dockside crane riggers to assist R & R Marine in loading materials for the Ensco 60 project. Eldridge's crane riggers prepared loads of materials on the dockside while R & R Marine and Ensco employees unloaded materials onto the barges. Although Eldridge crane riggers primarily worked on the dockside, they occasionally assisted on the barges. Def.'s Partial Summ. J. Mot. at 2, ¶ 4; see also Aff. of Darvis Eldridge at 2, June 15, 2005; Aff. of Kenneth Brown at 2, June 15, 2005.
Voight alleges that on July 30, 2003, he was assisting on one of the barges. See Compl. at 3. He was injured when struck by a steel plate being moved by Eldridge's crane. The impact slammed him against a steel trash container, causing severe nerve damage and great pain to the left side of his body. See Compl. at 3, 11-17. Plaintiff contends that defendants were negligent in failing to maintain a safe working environment. He seeks to recover monetary damages in the amount of $2.5 million.
Through two separate motions, defendants seek dismissal of this action pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1), 12(b)(6) and 56, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Defendants argue, first, that this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain an original claim for compensation under the Longshore & Harbor Worker's Compensation Act (LHWCA). Second, defendants argue that Voight cannot succeed under the Jones Act because he has no evidence sufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether he was a seaman. Finally, defendants argue that "Gabby's Dock Shipyard" is not a legal entity and thus lacks jural capacity to be sued.
Voight's response does not address the jural capacity argument. As for his LHWCA claim, Voight argues that this court has subject-matter jurisdiction because defendants' failed to comply with his requests for production of documents and necessary forms thereby preventing him from filing his worker's compensation claim with the U.S. Department of Labor. Pl.'s Resp. at 10, 112. Regarding his Jones Act claim, Voight argues that he satisfies Jones Act "seaman" status in that he was injured on a barge that is a vessel. Pl.'s Resp. at 8.
Congress adopted the Jones Act in 1920 to provide a right to maintain actions in federal district courts to seamen who in the course their employment suffer personal injury resulting from their employers' negligence. See Benedict on Admiralty vol. 1, § 175, 11-42 (7th ed., Matthew Bender 2005). Seven years later, Congress adopted the LHWCA to provide relief for land-based maritime workers who suffer such personal injuries. Id. at vol. 1A, § 7. LHWCA claims are filed with the deputy commissioner for the U.S. Department of Labor in the compensation district in which injuries occurred. Compensation is payable irrespective of fault as a cause for injury. 33 U.S.C. §§ 904(b), 913(a) (2000); see also Bludworth Shipyard, Inc. v. Lira, 700 F.2d 1046 (5th Cir.1983); Voris v. Texas Emp. Ins. Ass'n., 190 F.2d 929 (5th Cir.1951).
The LHWCA expressly excludes from its coverage "a master or member of a crew of any vessel." See 33 U.S.C. § 902(3)(G) (2000). In Swanson v. Marra Brothers, Inc., the Supreme Court declared that "master or member of a crew" is equivalent to the term "seaman" under the Jones Act. Swanson, 328 U.S. 1, 7, 66 S.Ct. 869, 90 L.Ed. 1045 (1946). Consequently, the Jones Act and the LHWCA are "mutually exclusive compensation regimes." Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 515 U.S. 347, 115 S.Ct. 2172, 132 L.Ed.2d 314 (1995); McDermott Int'l, Inc. v. Wilander, 498 U.S. 337, 111 S.Ct. 807, 112 L.Ed.2d 866 (1991); Swanson, 328 U.S. at 7, 66...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bailey v. R.L. Eldridge Construction, Inc., No. 09-08-00309-CV (Tex. App. 8/31/2009)
...Chandris, 515 U.S. at 371; Roberts v. Cardinal Serv's Inc., 266 F.3d 368, 375 (5th Cir. 2001); see also Voight v. R.L. Eldridge Const. Inc., 422 F.Supp.2d 742, 749 (E.D. Tex. 2006). The substantial connection requirement is meant to distinguish sea-based workers whose employment regularly e......