Callen v. OULU O/Y

711 F. Supp. 244, 1990 A.M.C. 1776, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3679, 1989 WL 38727
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 7, 1989
DocketCiv. A. 87-7830
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 711 F. Supp. 244 (Callen v. OULU O/Y) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Callen v. OULU O/Y, 711 F. Supp. 244, 1990 A.M.C. 1776, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3679, 1989 WL 38727 (E.D. Pa. 1989).

Opinion

ADJUDICATION

VAN ANTWERPEN, District Judge.

This non-jury matter is an action by a longshoreman against a shipowner for negligence. A jury trial is precluded because the shipowner is subject to the provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. See 28 U.S.C.A. § 1330 (West Supp.1988) and 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1602-1611 (West Supp. 1988). From the non-jury trial on March 13, 1989 through March 15, 1989, we make the following findings of fact and conclusions of law, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a).

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The plaintiff, John Callen, was born on September 22, 1925, and is presently 63 years of age. He completed the eighth grade and, after working as a busboy and in manufacturing, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946 and was honorably discharged. Since his discharge, he has worked as a longshoreman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When his usual work unloading sugar ended in 1982, he began to report to the Longshoremen’s Hiring Center under the Walt Whitman Bridge.

2. The arrangement is such that, as long as a man checks in each day at the hiring center, he is guaranteed a minimum wage which varies from year to year. For October, 1984 to October, 1985, it was $24,-000 per year and from October, 1985 to October, 1988 it was $25,000 per year. There was an increase to $25,500 per year for the 1988-1989 period. To qualify for this, a man must be available for work and a longshoreman is docked $144 against his yearly amount for each day he does not check in with the center. By 1984, plaintiff got in a pool gang which meant he would continue to report for work, but would occasionally be sent out to fill in for absent workers or when extra longshoremen were needed.

3. On December 30, 1986, the plaintiff was given a job working on the “Micofsky Gang” at Pier 80. The ship Pokkinen was docked there. The gang was handling rolls of paper and plaintiff was told to work on the No. 3 hatch lid. He entered at about 10:00 a.m. by climbing down steps which were made in the rolls of paper and went to work.

4. The rolls were being taken off as a draft by a device known as a Jensen rig. The rig is a cage which is placed over several rolls of paper and closed by pulling four lanyards shut. Plaintiff was working as a lanyard man.

5. Plaintiff was working on the tween deck in the hold in question. There is a stairway leading from the hold, but there is also a back-up ladder cut in the side of the hold. The ladder has recessed rungs in the form of pockets in the side of the hold. When the lid or hatch cover of the tween deck is folded down, it provides a deck or floor covering the lower hold of the ship. When the lid folds up accordion style, it partially covers the recessed ladder. For this reason, the tween deck lid has a similar recessed ladder built into it.

6. The recessed ladder in the lid has holes which form rungs approximately 40 cm. long by 10 cm. wide by 10 cm. deep. The entire set of holes is also recessed 1 to IV2 cm. from the main lid deck. Before the unloading on the day in question, the gang boss, Joseph Micofsky, inspected the ship and found nothing unsafe in the ship or cargo. Although nothing was said on December 30, 1986, Mr. Micofsky had warned his men about the danger of the holes on prior occasions. On prior occasions, he also noted plates which covered the recessed ladder in the lid. The plaintiff was never warned about the recessed ladder *246 and was unaware of its presence on December 30, 1986.

7. When the vessel was loaded overseas prior to arriving in Philadelphia, the lower hold was filled and the lower hold deck was covered with 30 cm. by 80 cm. sheets of plywood called walking boards. These boards keep the cargo away from the deck and are spaced about 5 cm. apart to provide drainage. Their placement is supervised by ship’s personnel.

8. Chief Merchant Marine Officer Rai-mo J. Yalimaki explained that the vessel in question, the Pokkinen, has four sister ships. The Pokkinen carries paper to Philadelphia about five or six times a year, and the four sister ships used to do likewise; when cargo is loaded by the stevedoring company, a representative of the paper mill is present, along with ship’s officers.

9. If extra walking boards are on hand, they are put on the tween deck, although none are usually used when rolls of paper are shipped. Instead, heavy cardboard-like paper is put down on the tween deck and lid to protect rolls of paper from the hold deck and moisture and keep them clean.

•10. On December 30, 1986, this heavy paper completely covered the recessed ladder in the lid of the tween deck. Although the cargo usually causes some indentations, there was no written warning of any type on the paper of the voids formed by the steps underneath the paper. Nor was the area roped off. The ship’s officers observed the unloading but gave no special warning of the location of the recessed ladder in the lid because they assumed, from past experience, that the stevedoring company knew about it. Ship’s officers had warned the company about it in the past.

11.Mr. George Mara, a naval architect, reviewed the design of the ladder on the vessel in question. In his opinion, the holes in the lid pose an unsafe condition unless the slots are covered or the area is roped off. He further testified that the overall 1 to IV2 cm. recess of the entire ladder would allow the placement of a plate over the ladder area when the folding hatch cover lid is in the down position. The plate could be held in place with “J” bolts.

12. At about 10:30 a.m., after he had been working for about thirty minutes, plaintiff stepped back to pull his lanyard on the Jensen rig case which was loaded with rolls of paper. As the draft or load was lifted, plaintiff’s right foot fell through the paper covering into a void caused by the ladder recessed into the lid. Plaintiff was fearful that the load might fall on him and he pulled his foot out and scrambled from underneath the load.

13. Plaintiff was in pain and after a while made his way off the ship and was driven to St. Agnes Hospital. His foot had swelled up “like a balloon”. The hospital took x-rays but found no broken bones. He was sent home with an ace bandage.

14. Plaintiff went to see a Dr. Weiss and was given therapy at St. Agnes Hospital for about six months with an inflatable boot, which was supposed to force fluid out of his ankle. He continued to have problems with pain and periodic swelling.

15. Plaintiff had a previous injury to the same foot in 1973 when he fell at work on a snow-covered fire hose. He was treated by a Dr. Berman and ultimately had a sympathectomy surgical procedure. This was done to control pain and swelling. After being out for 2V2 years, he returned to work. A sympathectomy can cause circulation problems.

16. Plaintiff next went to see another physician named Leonard Klinghoffer, M.D. Dr. Klinghoffer is an orthopedic surgeon and is board certified in his specialty. He first saw plaintiff on May 13, 1987 and examined him. He found no circulation problems or similar difficulties due to the sympathectomy. Tender areas were found on parts of the ankle. His diagnosis was a sprain of the right ankle complicated by prior circulation problems to an extent which rendered plaintiff disabled.

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Bluebook (online)
711 F. Supp. 244, 1990 A.M.C. 1776, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3679, 1989 WL 38727, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/callen-v-oulu-oy-paed-1989.