Casaceli v. Martech International, Inc.

774 F.2d 1322, 1986 A.M.C. 2665
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedOctober 29, 1985
DocketNo. 84-4452
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 774 F.2d 1322 (Casaceli v. Martech International, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Casaceli v. Martech International, Inc., 774 F.2d 1322, 1986 A.M.C. 2665 (5th Cir. 1985).

Opinion

CLARK, Chief Judge:

Transocean Contractors, Inc., and the CHERAMIE BO-TRUC #11 appeal the judgments against them in an action for damages resulting from the death of a diver, Joseph Bodd. Bodd drowned during an attempt to repair the CHERAMIE BO-TRUC while it was docked in a slip owned by Transocean. Because the evidence is not sufficient to support the verdicts against the appellants, we reverse.

I

Joseph Bodd, an employee of Martech International, Inc. (Martech), worked as a diver’s tender on board the CHERAMIE BO-TRUC # 11 for the two weeks prior to August 12, 1978. The vessel was conducting a salvage operation for CNG Producing Company in the Gulf of Mexico. Although Bodd had attended diving school for six months in 1975 and was a certified professional diver, he had never performed a professional dive. He did perform one unpaid 120 foot dive during this salvage operation.

The CHERAMIE BO-TRUC #11 returned to the intercoastal waterway on August 12, 1978, and unloaded Martech personnel and equipment at a slip owned by Martech. It then docked at the adjacent slip owned by Transocean Contractors, Inc. (Transocean), approximately 100 feet away. While backing into the Transocean slip, the right propeller of the BO-TRUC became fouled and the starboard engine shut down. The captain docked the vessel by using the port engine. The BO-TRUC had docked at this slip four or five other times without encountering any problems. The slip contained a great deal of junk and debris.

Martech is a professional diving company. Although Captain Gaspard recommended dry-docking the BO-TRUC for repairs, his supervisors decided to contract with Martech for a diver to free the propeller. Martech sent Joseph Bodd and a diver’s tender, Tom Runnels, to perform the contract.

Bodd and Runnels set up their diving station at the rear of the slip, sixty feet from the stern of the vessel. Debris in the dock area of the Transocean slip made it impossible for them to set up the station at the customary location, the stern of the vessel. The water in the slip was muddy and permitted only limited visibility. Visible debris floated at the edge of the slip.

Bodd made a total of four dives, all of which involved Bodd’s walking from the shallow water at the shore out to the stern of the vessel, where the water was eight to ten feet deep. This was a sixty foot walk, during which Bodd’s air hose had to be dragged over debris on the bottom of the . slip.

Bodd first performed an inspection dive which lasted fifteen or twenty minutes. Bodd inspected both propellers and reported to Gaspard and Gaspard’s supervisor, Buddy Curóles, that the starboard wheel was fouled with rope and the port wheel with cable. The CHERAMIE supervisors did not know the port wheel was also fouled until this time. Bodd also told the captain that the water depth at the stern of [1325]*1325the vessel was good because he could stand on the bottom and reach the propellers. Bodd did not complain about the location of the vessel nor did he ask the captain to move it out of the Transocean slip. Gas-pard testified without contradiction that he relies on the diver’s recommendations in these situations and that he would have moved the vessel if Bodd had so requested. However, he did not so advise Bodd. Runnels testified that he and Bodd did not request that the boat be moved because both propellers were fouled and they did not know it could be moved.

Gaspard and Curóles then contacted the charterer, CNG Producing Company. Cu-roles recommended dry-docking the boat. Because the vessel was needed for another job and it was thought dry-docking might take too long, the decision was made to request the diver to proceed with the wheel job in the Transocean slip.

Bodd performed three more dives. On each dive he complained over the radio to his tender about his air hose becoming tangled with the debris on the bottom of the slip. Gaspard and Curóles observed Bodd’s dives. Gaspard heard the radio communications between Bodd and his tender. Transocean employees were also present during these diving operations.

On his second dive, which lasted approximately twenty minutes, Bodd unsuccessfully attempted to unravel the cable from the port wheel with a crowbar. Bodd terminated his third dive after thirty minutes because his cutting torch was not operating properly. During Bodd’s fourth dive, Runnels noticed that the radio was dead and that air bubbles were no longer apparent. Runnels asked Gaspard and Curóles to pull on the air hose, and dived into the water to rescue Bodd. He was not successful. Gas-pard and Curóles had great difficulty in pulling up the air hose which seemed to snag several times on something under the surface. When the air hose emerged, only the face gear was attached and the regulator was missing. Runnels testified that a missing regulator would allow water to enter the diver’s mask and cut off his oxygen. Runnels also testified that the diver would have to intentionally release the life line. He indicated that a diver should not release this line since it allows him to find his way back to the surface. Bodd’s body was later found floating under the vessel near its bow.

A diver from another company, after performing an inspection dive the next day, told Gaspard that the job should be done in a dry dock. The vessel was then dry docked for the repairs.

II

Dolores Bodd Casaceli, the representative of Bodd’s estate, and Evelyn Bodd, his mother, sued Martech, Transocean and the CHERAMIE BO-TRUC # 11 for damages resulting from the death of Joseph Bodd. The plaintiffs settled with Martech. A jury found that Bodd was a longshoreman and not a seaman. The jury also found that Bodd was ten percent negligent and that Transocean and CHERAMIE were each forty-five percent at fault. • The jury awarded the plaintiffs $75,000 for Bodd’s conscious pain and suffering, and $150,000 for loss of love and affection to Evelyn Bodd. The plaintiffs also received an award of punitive damages in the amount of $250,000 from each defendant. The district court denied the motions of both defendants for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a new trial. The court did remit the award for loss of love and affection from $150,000 to $75,000. CHERA-MIE and Transoeean appeal these judgments.

III

We consider first the legal principles applicable to the vessel’s appeal. The 1972 amendments to the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) provided persons covered by the Act with an action against a vessel for injuries caused by the negligence of the vessel:

In the event of injury to a person covered under this chapter caused by the negligence of a vessel, then such person, [1326]*1326or anyone otherwise entitled to recover damages by reason thereof, may bring an action against such vessel as a third party in accordance with the provisions of section 933 of this title, and the employer shall not be liable to the vessel for such damages directly or indirectly and any agreements or warranties to the contrary shall be void. If such person was employed by the vessel to provide steve-doring services, no such action shall be permitted if the injury was caused by the negligence of persons engaged in providing stevedoring services to the vessel.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Woodward v. Logistec Ltd.
164 F. Supp. 2d 941 (N.D. Ohio, 2001)
Singleton v. Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Co.
79 F.3d 26 (Fifth Circuit, 1996)
Vulcan Materials Co. v. Vulica Shipping Co., Ltd.
859 F. Supp. 242 (W.D. Louisiana, 1994)
Kuehne & Nagel (AG & Co.) v. Geosource, Inc.
874 F.2d 283 (Fifth Circuit, 1989)
Kirby v. OMI Corp.
33 Fla. Supp. 2d 51 (Florida Circuit Courts, 1989)
Roach v. M/V Aqua Grace
857 F.2d 1575 (Eleventh Circuit, 1988)
White v. Cooper/T. Smith Corp.
690 F. Supp. 534 (E.D. Louisiana, 1988)
Murray v. Gulfcoast Transit Co.
529 So. 2d 784 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1988)
Hunter v. Intreprinderea de Explore Flott Maritime NAVROM
690 F. Supp. 517 (E.D. Louisiana, 1988)
Truehart v. Blandon
672 F. Supp. 929 (E.D. Louisiana, 1987)
Ecker v. Town of West Hartford
530 A.2d 1056 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1987)
Dunn v. Penrod Drilling Co.
660 F. Supp. 757 (S.D. Texas, 1987)
Graham v. Milky Way Barge, Inc.
811 F.2d 881 (Fifth Circuit, 1987)
Bubla v. Bradshaw
795 F.2d 349 (Fourth Circuit, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
774 F.2d 1322, 1986 A.M.C. 2665, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/casaceli-v-martech-international-inc-ca5-1985.