Giganti v. Polsteam Shipping Co.

997 F. Supp. 2d 182, 2013 WL 6536767, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177901
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedDecember 13, 2013
DocketNo. 12-CV-1210 (PKC)(ARL)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 997 F. Supp. 2d 182 (Giganti v. Polsteam Shipping Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Giganti v. Polsteam Shipping Co., 997 F. Supp. 2d 182, 2013 WL 6536767, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177901 (E.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

PAMELA K. CHEN, District Judge:

In this maritime case, Plaintiff Michael Giganti (“Plaintiff’), a longshoreman, slipped and fell while discharging sugar from the M/S PILICA (“PILICA” or the “Vessel”). He brings this negligence action against Defendants Polsteam Shipping Co. (“Polsteam”), the owner pro hac vice of the Vessel, and CSC Sugar, LLC, the charterer of the Vessel, (“CSC”) (collectively, the “Defendants”) under the Long-shore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHCWA”), 33 U.S.C. § 905(b).

Defendants’ individually move for summary judgment, each arguing that there is no evidence in the record to support a finding that it breached its duties of care causing injury to Plaintiff.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ respective motions for summary judgment. Accordingly, this case is dismissed.

BACKGROUND

I. Relevant Facts

For the purposes of the instant motion, the Court accepts undisputed facts as true and resolves disputed facts in favor of the Plaintiff where there is evidence to support his allegations.1

A. The Actors

This action arises out of an injury sustained by Plaintiff on March 31, 2011, [187]*187while working aboard the PILICA, a vessel owned pro hac vice by Polsteam. (Pol. 56.1 ¶¶ 1, 3.)2 Plaintiff is a longshoreman, who has been employed by non-party American Sugar Refining Inc. (“ASR”) since September 2007. (CSC 56.1 ¶ 1.)3 At the time of the injury, the PILICA was under charter of Defendant CSC and docked at a terminal on the Hudson River, owned by ASR. (Id. ¶¶ 2,10.)4

Defendant CSC is a trading house, which trades primarily in sugar. (Id. ¶ 9.) On March 7, 2011, Polsteam, as owner pro hac vice, and CSC as charterer, entered into a time charter party (“Time Charter”). (Id. ¶ 11.) Under the terms of the Time Charter, CSC hired the PILICA for a single trip from the Dominican Republic to the United States’ east coast to transport a cargo of bulk sugar, which CSC had sold to ASR. (Id.) The terms of CSC’s sale to ASR provided that ASR, or its designee, would be responsible for discharging the bulk sugar cargo from the vessel. (Id. ¶ 12.)

ASR operates a marine terminal located at 1 Federal Street, Yonkers, New York, the site of the incident at issue (the “Terminal”). (Id. ¶¶ 2.) Vessels call at the Terminal at least once per week to discharge bulk sugar, i.e., sugar that is not packaged but is transported loose inside the holds of the vessel. (Id. ¶¶ 3-4.) Equipment used at the Terminal during vessel discharge operations includes two floating cranes and at least five track loaders. (Id. ¶ 6.) The floating cranes are typically moored next to the Terminal’s dock and vessels berth alongside these cranes. (Id. ¶ 7.) The track loaders are used inside the holds of the vessels by longshoremen to pile up sugar from the bottom of the hold so that the cranes can access it to lift it off the vessels with clamshell grabs. (Id.) ASR, acting as a stevedore,5 operates and maintains the equipment used during discharge. (Id. ¶ 6.)

ASR employs the longshoremen, including Plaintiff, who discharge sugar from vessels calling at the Terminal, and the dock manager who supervises those longshoremen. (Id. ¶ 5.) Plaintiffs specific job duties included boarding vessels to service and repair the engines of the discharging equipment. (Id. ¶ 8.)

B. The Incident

On March 25, 2011, pursuant to the parties’ agreements, the PILICA berthed at ASR’s Terminal to begin discharge of its raw sugar cargo. (Pol. 56.1 ¶¶ 5, 7.) The cargo discharge was scheduled to take place from March 25, 2011 to March 31, 2011. (Id. ¶ 5.) The stevedore, ASR, conducted the cargo discharge operations pursuant to the terms of CSC’s sale of sugar to ASR. (Pol. 56.1 ¶ 6; CSC 56.1 ¶ 12.)

On March 31, 2011, the day of the incident in question, longshoremen employed by A SR were discharging sugar from the PILICA at the Terminal using floating cranes and track loaders. (CSC 56.1 ¶ 15.) Early that morning, “light rain” began to fall. (Pltf. Resp. Pol. 56.1 ¶ 23.)6 Bulk [188]*188sugar is susceptible to damage if wetted. (CSC 56.1 ¶ 19.) The PILICA’s general policy is not to discharge when rain is failing because the vessel is responsible for any damage to the cargo. (Pol. 56.1 ¶ 14.) Discharge operations halted due to the rain but recommenced after ASR provided a “Rain Letter.” (Karas Tr. 64,120-121.)7 The Rain Letter is a letter of indemnity, which insulates the vessel from liability for any damage to cargo resulting from discharge during adverse weather conditions. (CSC 56.1 ¶ 20.)

Clause 84 of the Time Charter (“Clause 84”) gave CSC the option to allow discharge during rain periods provided that CSC, as the charterer, and ASR, as receivers of the cargo, furnished Polsteam with the Rain Letter. (Pol. 56.1 ¶ 16.) ASR drafted and signed the Rain Letter, which CSC countersigned. (Pol. 56.1 ¶ 18; CSC 56.1¶ 22.) The Rain Letter concerned responsibility for cargo damage during discharge of cargo in rainy conditions; it did not concern the safety of longshoremen or potential liability resulting therefrom. (CSC 56.1 ¶ 23-24.)

After discharge recommenced on March 31, 2009, at approximately 1:30 p.m., Plaintiff boarded the Vessel to repair a track loader that was being used in one of the PILICA’s hatches to assist in the discharge. (Giganti Tr. 47-48.)8 At that time it was raining lightly. (CSC 56.1 ¶ 27(b).) Plaintiff claims he slipped on a mixture of rainwater and raw sugar present on the Vessel’s starboard side, striking his tailbone on the deck. (Pltf. Resp. Pol. 56.1 ¶ 24; CSC 56.1 ¶ 27(c).) Prior to his fall, Plaintiff saw rainwater but no sugar on the deck where he fell. (CSC 56.1 ¶ 27(d).) After he fell, Plaintiff saw that he had slipped on a clear liquid that was dripping from one of the Vessel’s hatch cover drain valves onto the deck. (Id. ¶ 27(e).) Plaintiff claims that the liquid mix dripped from the drain pipe valve onto the deck and then ran across the deck. (Pltf. Resp. Pol. 56.1 ¶ 25; CSC 56.1 ¶ 27(f).) The PILICA’s deck was not coated with “grit” or sand. (Pltf. Resp. Pol. 56.1 ¶ 27.)

Earlier that day, Patrick Romeo, an ASR stevedore and Plaintiffs colleague, observed a liquid substance dripping from the hatch over the drain valve onto the deck and notified a member of the Vessel’s crew of such condition as he was leaving the Vessel to take his lunch break. (CSC 56.1 ¶ 28.) When he returned from his lunch break, the dripping liquid was still present at the same spot, the site where Plaintiff later fell. (Id.) After Plaintiffs fall, a member of the Vessel’s crew capped the valve. (Id.)

C. Sugar Discharge at the Terminal

The only type of cargo that is discharged at ASR’s Terminal is bulk sugar. (Carlucci Tr. 32).9 Cargo ships call on the Terminal at least once per week.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
997 F. Supp. 2d 182, 2013 WL 6536767, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177901, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/giganti-v-polsteam-shipping-co-nyed-2013.