Wilkerson v. Teledyne Movible Offshore, Inc., Civ. A. No. B-78-505-CA.

CourtUnited States District Courts. 5th Circuit. United States District Court of Eastern District Texas
Citation496 F. Supp. 1279
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. B-78-505-CA.
PartiesLouie E. WILKERSON v. TELEDYNE MOVIBLE OFFSHORE, INC.
Decision Date19 September 1980

Joe Bob Golden, Don G. Adams, Adams & Golden, Jasper, Tex., Bill A. Martin, Newton, Tex., for plaintiff.

Robert M. Julian, William H. Seele, Houston, Tex., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION1

JOE J. FISHER, District Judge.

The Plaintiff, Louie Edward Wilkerson, brought this suit under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 688, and the general maritime law to recover damages for injuries he sustained while employed by the Defendant, Teledyne Movible Offshore, Inc. (Teledyne).2 Jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331(a) and 1333(1). Venue is proper in this Court, as the Defendant is doing business within this District and Division. 28 U.S.C. § 1391(c). Trial was held before the Court on May 9, 1980.

Teledyne is engaged in the business of conducting offshore oil drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Plaintiff began employment with Teledyne in October of 1976, in Galveston, Texas. At all times material to this case, the Plaintiff was an employee of Teledyne.

The Plaintiff's first assignment with Teledyne was as a power plant operator aboard Teledyne's Rig 17. Briefly, Rig 17 is a submersible drilling platform which is designed to be towed into position, where a hydraulic jacking procedure lowers three pads to the floor of the ocean and raises the drilling platform to approximately sixty feet above the surface. Drilling operations would then take place. When ready to be moved to another location, the same jacking procedure lowers the drilling platform and raises the legs. The rig is then towed by tug to the next well location. Rig 17 has a raked bow, anchors, navigation lights, a galley and crew quarters, life rafts, and other life-saving devices. While Rig 17 was being prepared for movement or actually under tow, the Plaintiff's duties consisted of shutting down the rig except for the power plant, closing off the bulkheads, tying down and balancing the load, emptying the bilges, checking the navigation lights, and making certain that the rig was otherwise ship-shape for towing.

The Plaintiff sailed from Galveston on Rig 17 into the Gulf of Mexico, working aboard her as a power plant operator until April of 1977. He was then to be transferred to Teledyne's Rig 16, which is a submersible drilling platform with characteristics identical to those of Rig 17. Prior to such transfer, the Plaintiff was temporarily assigned to Rig 10, which is a drilling platform permanently affixed to the floor of the ocean, until a power plant operator position became available aboard Rig 16. After one week on Rig 10, he sustained a hernia, which required him to be taken ashore for an operation.

After his recovery, the Plaintiff reported for duty and was assigned to fill-in as power plant operator on Rig 4, a fixed drilling platform, the regular operator having been forced to leave due to an emergency. His duties on Rig 4 were understood by all parties to be temporary, and the Plaintiff was to be transferred to Rig 16 as soon as feasible.

The Plaintiff arrived on Rig 4 at 8:00 a. m. on July 26, 1977. The injuries now complained of were sustained one hour later. The Plaintiff was instructed to check the fuel tank, as Rig 4 was being prepared to take on fuel. Being unfamiliar with the lay-out of this particular rig, the Plaintiff asked where the fuel tank was located. He was told that it was outside the back door of the engine room on the right. The Plaintiff pulled the door open and stepped out, looking to his right for the fuel tank. Unknown to him, a flight of stairs began immediately outside the back door of the engine room, leading to the deck below. The Plaintiff did not look down, but was looking for the fuel tank. The top two steps of the stairs had coarse-bristle mats placed upon them. The mats were not fixed to the metal steps and were covered with drilling mud. The Plaintiff slipped on the first mud-covered mat and fell to the bottom of the stairs, a distance of about ten feet, severely injuring his back.

After finishing his shift, the Plaintiff noticed that there was blood in his urine and reported that fact to his supervisor. He was taken to a hospital in Galveston and remained there for about two days, when he was sent home to Newton County to see his personal physician, Dr. Gribble.

A preponderance of the credible medical evidence testimony admitted at trial indicates that the Plaintiff sustained serious injuries to his back as a result of his fall. These injuries caused, and still cause, extreme pain. The Plaintiff suffers from severe, continuing muscle spasms in the lower dorsal area, with secondary dextroscoliosis. The Plaintiff was also found to have a lateral compression at T-12 of the thoracic spine, and possibly at T-9. Hypertrophic spurring was found, in addition to early osteoarthritis in the mid-thoracic area. He had a great deal of difficulty turning over in bed. Since his release from the hospital, Dr. Gribble has treated him with antispasmodics and musculo-skeletal relaxants, periodic steroid injections, injections for pain, and pain medications. Dr. Gribble tried physical therapy on several occasions, but it was too painful for the Plaintiff to endure.

Dr. Gribble's primary treatment has been medication and education of the Plaintiff as to muscular movements and exercises. Also, the Plaintiff has been provided with a nerve stimulator which affords him considerable relief from pain. The nerve stimulator is a device that is worn on the body, which interferes by means of a low frequency electrical current with the pain signal sent from the affected area to the brain. The Plaintiff sleeps in a full Taylor brace, which maintains a limited range of movement over the entire spine.

Dr. Gribble is of the opinion, and the Court finds, that the Plaintiff will have to endure pain for the rest of his life, and must learn how to deal with it. In this connection, Dr. Gribble has recommended that the Plaintiff be admitted to the Institute for Research and Rehabilitation at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas (the Pain Clinic), which has a specialized program for helping patients such as the Plaintiff to control and live with intractible pain. The Plaintiff is unable to work, even around the home, due to his injuries and accompanying pain, and, in all reasonable medical probability, will never be able to do so.

The parties have stipulated that one thousand, eight hundred forty-seven dollars and eighty-one cents ($1,847.81) is the amount of reasonable and necessary medical expenses incurred by the Plaintiff as a result of his injuries up to the date of trial, which were not already paid by Teledyne. The Court finds that the Plaintiff will incur reasonable and necessary medical expenses in the future in the amount of seventeen thousand, eight hundred twenty-one dollars ($17,821.00)3 as a result of his injuries. The amount of lost earnings in the past and loss of earning capacity is found to be two hundred thirty-nine thousand, seven hundred forty dollars ($239,740.00).4 The Court also finds that two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) is reasonable compensation to the Plaintiff for the extreme physical pain and mental suffering he has endured in the past and is likely to endure in the future as a result of his injuries.

The parties have stipulated that the Plaintiff was paid Longshoremen and Harbor Workers' Compensation benefits at the rate of two hundred twenty-six dollars and twenty-seven cents ($226.27) per week for a period of fifty-four (54) weeks, amounting to twelve thousand, two hundred eighteen dollars and fifty-eight cents ($12,218.58). The parties also stipulate that Teledyne and its compensation carrier are entitled to reimbursement of this sum.

I

Only seamen are entitled to the liberal provisions of the Jones Act.5 Stokes v. B. T. Oilfield Services, Inc., 617 F.2d 1205, 1206 (5th Cir. 1980); Wixom v. Boland Marine & Manufacturing Co., Inc., 614 F.2d 956, 957 (5th Cir. 1980); Guidry v. South Louisiana Contractors, Inc., 614 F.2d 447, 452 (5th Cir. 1980); Longmire v. Sea Drilling Corp., 610 F.2d 1342, 1345 (5th Cir. 1980). The Fifth Circuit has defined "seaman" as one who

(1) has a more or less permanent connection with (2) a vessel in navigation and (3) the capacity in which he is employed or the duties which he performs must contribute to the function of the vessel, the accomplishment of its mission or its operation or welfare in terms of its maintenance during its movement or during anchorage for its future trips.

Guidry, 614 F.2d at 452; Billings v. Chevron, U. S. A., Inc., 618 F.2d 1108, 1109 (5th Cir. 1980); Wixom, 614 F.2d at 957; Beard v. Shell Oil Co., 606 F.2d 515, 517 (5th Cir. 1979); Barrios v. Louisiana Construction Materials Co., 465 F.2d 1157, 1161 (5th Cir. 1972); Offshore Co. v. Robison, 266 F.2d 769, 779 (5th Cir. 1959).

The Robison court held that the term "vessel" includes "special purpose structures not usually employed as a means of transport by water but designed to float on water." 266 F.2d at 779. Although it would probably seem strange to the uninitiated, it is settled law in this circuit that movible drilling platforms6 are vessels for purposes of the Jones Act and maritime law, while permanently fixed platforms7 are not. Longmire, 610 F.2d at 1348. See 2 M. Norris, The Law of Seamen, § 669 at 306-07 (3d ed. 1970 & Supp.1979). The latter are considered artificial islands. Id. The remedy for those who work and are injured on fixed platforms is solely under the Longshoremen and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. § 905(a), and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1333(b).8

The Fifth Circuit has held in a long line of cases beginning with Offshore Co. v. Robison, 266 F.2d 769 (5th Cir. 1959), that workers aboard movible drilling rigs are seamen for purposes of...

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