Ellis v. Riverport Enterprises, Inc.

957 F. Supp. 105, 1997 A.M.C. 2264, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2267, 1997 WL 85772
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Kentucky
DecidedFebruary 27, 1997
DocketCivil Action No. 95-116
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 957 F. Supp. 105 (Ellis v. Riverport Enterprises, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ellis v. Riverport Enterprises, Inc., 957 F. Supp. 105, 1997 A.M.C. 2264, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2267, 1997 WL 85772 (E.D. Ky. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

BERTELSMAN, Chief Judge.

In January 1994, plaintiff, James Ellis (Ellis), lived on his boat, which he docked at Water Town Yacht Club, a marina owned by defendant, Riverport Enterprises (River-port). On January 31,1994 at approximately 10:30 p.m., Ellis and his brother Bob arrived at the marina to go aboard the boat.

When the men arrived, the river was out of its banks. To enable boat owners to reach the marina’s floating docks, Riverport Enterprises had placed a temporary floating walk[106]*106way between the land and the docks. The floating walkway bridged the flood waters and connected a set of land-based stairs to the docks. A photograph of the scene is attached as an appendix hereto.

On the night at issue, snow and ice covered the ground and marina ramps making driving and walking hazardous. Nevertheless, Ellis proceeded across the floating walkway toward the dock where he kept his boat. According to Ellis, while he was walking across the walkway, he fell and broke his left humenjs and injured his left rotator cuff.1

Kentucky’s statute of limitations for personal injury actions is one year. K.R.S. 413.140. Ellis filed suit against Riverport on August 5, 1995, approximately one year and six months after his incident. Admittedly, Ellis filed his action outside of Kentucky’s limitations period. In contrast, and also undisputed, under admiralty law the statute of limitations on Ellis’s claims would be three years, and Ellis’s claims would not be time-barred. Therefore, the issue before the court is whether Kentucky or admiralty law applies to Ellis’s claims.

ANALYSIS

When a court has admiralty jurisdiction over a tort claim, substantive admiralty law applies. Wiper v. Great Lakes Engineering Works, 340 F.2d 727, 730 (C.A.6), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 812, 86 S.Ct. 28, 15 L.Ed.2d 60 (1965). If admiralty jurisdiction does not exist, state law applies. Id.; Florida Fuels, Inc. v. Citgo Petroleum Corp., 6 F.3d 330, 332 (C.A.5 1993), cert. denied, Authement v. Citgo Petroleum Corp., 511 U.S. 1019, 114 S.Ct. 1400, 128 L.Ed.2d 73 (1994).

“[T]he primary focus of admiralty jurisdiction is unquestionably the protection of maritime commerce.... ” Foremost Ins. Co. v. Richardson, 457 U.S. 668, 674, 102 S.Ct. 2654, 2658, 73 L.Ed.2d 300 (1982). In analyzing an admiralty jurisdiction issue, one must keep in mind that:

The power reserved to the states, under the Constitution, to provide for the determination of controversies in their courts may be restricted only by the action of Congress.... Due regard for the rightful independence of state governments, which should actuate federal courts, requires that they scrupulously confine their own jurisdiction to the precise limits which a federal statute has defined.

Oman v. Johns-Manville Corp., 764 F.2d 224, 227 (C.A.4), cert. denied, Oman v. H.K Porter Co., 474 U.S. 970, 106 S.Ct. 351, 88 L.Ed.2d 319 (1985) (quoting Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. Cleveland, 409 U.S. 249, 272-73, 93 S.Ct. 493, 506-07, 34 L.Ed.2d 454 (1972)). “Principles of federalism counsel that only when the federal interest in uniformity outweighs other interests at stake should admiralty jurisdiction deprive the state of its traditional control over personal injury claims.... ” Jenco v. United States, 1989 WL 122428, *3 (N.D.Ill.1989) (unpublished).

“The traditional test for admiralty jurisdiction asked only whether the tort occurred on navigable waters. If it did, admiralty jurisdiction followed; if it did not, admiralty jurisdiction did not exist.” Grubart v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, 513 U.S. 527, -, 115 S.Ct. 1043, 1047, 130 L.Ed.2d 1024 (1995). Under the traditional rule, “admiralty courts lacked jurisdiction over ... a claim following a ship’s collision with a pier insofar as it injured the pier, for admiralty law treated the pier as an extension of the land.” Id.

Congress modified the traditional rule in 1948 when it passed the Extension of Admiralty Act, 46 U.S.C.Appx. § 740. Id. The Act extended admiralty jurisdiction to cases where injury is “caused by a vessel on navigable water, notwithstanding that such damage or injury be done or consummated on land.” 46 U.S.C.Appx. § 740.

After Congress passed 46 U.S.C.Appx. § 740, the Supreme Court struggled to define the statute’s reach. See Grubart, 513 U.S. at -, 115 S.Ct. at 1043; Sisson v. Ruby, 497 U.S. 358, 110 S.Ct. 2892, 111 L.Ed.2d 292 (1990); Foremost Ins. Co., 457 U.S. 668, 102 S.Ct. 2654, 73 L.Ed.2d 300; [107]*107Executive Jet Aviation, Inc., 409 U.S. 249, 93 S.Ct. 493, 34 L.Ed.2d 454. Eventually, the Court settled on a two-part test that requires a plaintiff seeking to invoke admiralty jurisdiction to show (1) that “the tort occurred on navigable water ... or [if the injury occurred on land, that it] was caused by a vessel on navigable water,” and (2) that the general character of the incident has a potentially disruptive impact on maritime commerce and a substantial relationship to traditional maritime activity. Grubart, 513 U.S. at -, 115 S.Ct. at 1048. The Court labeled the two-parts of this inquiry the “location” and “connection” tests. Id.

The Location Test

To satisfy the location test, Ellis must show his accident occurred on a navigable waterway. For purposes of admiralty jurisdiction, courts consistently have held piers, docks, and other spudded platforms are extensions of the land and not within admiralty jurisdiction. Id. at-, 115 S.Ct. at 1047; Victory Carriers, Inc. v. Law, 404 U.S. 202, 212, 92 S.Ct. 418, 425, 30 L.Ed.2d 383 (1971) (“Piers and docks [are] consistently deemed extensions of land; injuries inflicted to or on them [are] held not compensable under maritime law.”); Chapman v. City of Grosse Pointe Farms, 385 F.2d 962 (C.A.6 1967) (holding tort that occurred on dock was outside of admiralty jurisdiction); Wiper, 340 F.2d at 730 (holding where plaintiff fell on dock and then rolled into navigable waters and drowned, tort was complete when plaintiff hit dock and therefore was consummated on land outside of admiralty jurisdiction); Florida Fuels, Inc.,

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957 F. Supp. 105, 1997 A.M.C. 2264, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2267, 1997 WL 85772, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ellis-v-riverport-enterprises-inc-kyed-1997.