Buccina v. Grimsby

96 F. Supp. 3d 706, 2015 A.M.C. 973, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44482, 2015 WL 1518079
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedMarch 25, 2015
DocketCase No. 14CV02434
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 96 F. Supp. 3d 706 (Buccina v. Grimsby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Buccina v. Grimsby, 96 F. Supp. 3d 706, 2015 A.M.C. 973, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44482, 2015 WL 1518079 (N.D. Ohio 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

JAMES G. CARR, Senior District Judge.

This is an admiralty case, arising under 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1), in which plaintiff Nancy Buccina suffered injuries while riding on a pleasure craft that defendant Linda Ann Grimsby owned and operated on the Maumee River.

Defendant moves to dismiss (Doc. 10) on the grounds that plaintiff filed her suit after expiration of Ohio’s two year statute of limitations, O.R.C. § 2305.10, or, alternatively, that plaintiff failed to plead admiralty jurisdiction adequately. I conclude for the following reasons that maritime law controls the limitations period, which, under 46 U.S.C. § 30106, is three years. Accordingly, I deny defendant’s motion.

Background

On June 10, 2012, plaintiff was seated in the bow as defendant navigated her pleasure boat downstream towards Lake Erie. The Maumee River was crowded that day, and, as traffic became congested, the boats created choppy waves as high as two feet. As the defendant’s boat neared the lake, the vessels and the waves it encountered grew increasingly larger.

The boat suddenly struck one of the waves and pitched upward, throwing plaintiff into the air; when she slammed back down into her seat, the impact caused the injuries for which she seeks recovery.

Defendant transported plaintiff to the Coast Guard station, after which plaintiff was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Plaintiff filed this action on November 3, 2014.

[709]*709Standard of Review

To survive a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the complaint, viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, “must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

“A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. While detailed factual allegations are unnecessary, “a plaintiffs obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of a cause of action’s elements will not do.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).

Discussion

I. Application of Federal Maritime Law

Defendant asserts that plaintiffs decision to specify, without reference to maritime law, only that she is proceeding under diversity jurisdiction precludes application of federal maritime law. Such a finding, given Ohio’s two year limitations statute, would be fatal to plaintiffs claim.

I agree, however, with plaintiff that, even though she did not designate her claim as proceeding under Fed. R.Civ.P. 9(h), federal maritime law applies. Substantive federal maritime law governs a plaintiffs maritime-based claim regardless of whether she has elected to proceed in admiralty or invoke this Court’s diversity jurisdiction. Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc. v. Ellerman Lines, Ltd., 369 U.S. 355, 360, 82 S.Ct. 780, 7 L.Ed.2d 798 (1962); Kermarec v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, 358 U.S. 625, 628, 79 S.Ct. 406, 3 L.Ed.2d 550 (1959); Pope & Talbot v. Hawn, 346 U.S. 406, 410-11, 74 S.Ct. 202, 98 L.Ed. 143 (1953); Anderson v. Whittaker Corp., 692 F.Supp. 764, 767 (W.D.Mich.1988), rev’d on other grounds, 894 F.2d 804 (6th Cir.1990) (“[I]f a case arises from conduct that brings it within the reach of the court’s admiralty jurisdiction, federal maritime law will govern the rights of the parties, even if an independent source of jurisdiction exists.”); Neal v. McGinnis, Inc., 716 F.Supp. 996 (E.D.Ky.1989) (citing Chelentis v. Luckenbach Steamship Co., Inc., 247 U.S. 372, 38 S.Ct. 501, 62 L.Ed. 1171 (1918) (“Regardless of whether a maritime claim is brought on the admiralty or the law side of a federal district court, the parties’ rights and liabilities are controlled by federal principles of maritime law.”)).1

A plaintiff cannot shop for the sübstantive laws most favorable to her by designating, or not designating, her claim as proceeding in admiralty under Rule 9(h). Carey v. Bahama Cruise Lines, 864 [710]*710F.2d 201 (1st Cir.1988); In re Glacier Bay, 746 F.Supp. 1379, 1383-84 (D.Aka.1990). Rule 9(h) is a purely procedural provision. Carey, supra, 864 F.2d at 206. Plaintiffs, whose claims arise in diversity or admiralty, can elect to proceed in admiralty under Rule 9(h) to guarantee certain procedural options, such as a bench trial. See, e.g., id.; F.R.C.P. 38(e); Apache Corp. v. Global Santa Fe Drilling Co., 435 Fed.Appx. 322, 324 (5th Cir.2011). Here, plaintiff chose to proceed in diversity to procure a different procedural benefit: the right to a jury trial. Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, supra, 369 U.S. at 360, 82 S.Ct. 780 (Plaintiffs pursuing diversity jurisdiction, even when the claim is maritime in nature, preserve their rights to trial by jury.).

Because substantive maritime law governs maritime claims, only the maritime three year statute of limitations applies. Oroz v. American President Lines, Ltd., 259 F.2d 636, 638 (2nd Cir.1958).

The application of one statute of limitations to all maritime claims is consistent with Congress’s purpose in creating admiralty jurisdiction; namely, “the protection of maritime commerce through uniform rules of decision.” Jerome B. Grubart, Inc. v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 513 U.S. 527, 544, 115 S.Ct. 1043, 130 L.Ed.2d 1024 (1995). Permitting plaintiffs with claims arising from events on navigable waters to choose which statute of limitations applies would result in varied outcomes to parties’ substantive rights based solely on whether the plaintiff has discovered that proceeding in law or admiralty allows her claim to survive a fatal time restriction. See Pope & Talbot, Inc. v. Hawn, 346 U.S. at 411, 74 S.Ct.

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Nancy Buccina v. Linda Ann Grimsby
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96 F. Supp. 3d 706, 2015 A.M.C. 973, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44482, 2015 WL 1518079, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buccina-v-grimsby-ohnd-2015.