Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Howard

452 S.W.3d 40, 2014 WL 5898375
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 13, 2014
DocketNo. 14-14-00442-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 452 S.W.3d 40 (Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Howard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Howard, 452 S.W.3d 40, 2014 WL 5898375 (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinions

[42]*42OPINION

TRACY CHRISTOPHER, Justice.

In this case concerning a seaman’s entitlement to payments for maintenance and cure, his employer argues that the trial court erred in granting the seaman’s motion to compel such payments. We agree that the order is a temporary injunction and that it does not comply with Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 683. We therefore declare the order void, dissolve it, and remand the case to the trial court. We further direct the clerk of our court to issue the mandate immediately.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Appellee Matthew Howard sued appellants Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., Helix Subsea Construction, Inc., and Helix Well Ops Inc. (collectively, “Helix”) for a knee injury he allegedly received in the service of the vessel MW QJpOOO. He alleged that the vessel and its crew were unseaworthy, and he asserted claims under the Jones Act and general maritime law. As relevant here, he asserted that Helix breached its duty to timely provide maintenance and cure.

Howard filed a motion styled as “Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Payment of Maintenance and Cure Benefits,” and after an evidentiary hearing, the trial court granted-the motion. Under the terms of the order, Helix was ordered (a) to make retroactive and continuing maintenance payments of $364 per week; (b) to pay the reasonable and customary charges for Howard’s medical treatment “as directed by his treating physician George Brindley, M.D.” or by others to whom Howard was referred by Dr. Brindley; and (c) to continue paying for maintenance and cure until the trial court made further orders concerning Helix’s maintenance-and-cure obligations or the parties stipulated that Howard reached maximum medical improvement.

Helix filed this interlocutory appeal in which it argues that the trial court’s order is an improperly issued temporary injunction. In the alternative, Helix asks that we treat its appeal as a petition for a writ of mandamus and require the trial court to vacate its order because it impermissibly requires Helix to make payments for palliative care.1 We granted Helix’s motion to expedite this proceeding.

II. Jurisdiction

As a threshold matter, we must determine whether we have jurisdiction over this case as an interlocutory appeal. Appellate courts can review final orders, but as a general rule, they lack jurisdiction to review interlocutory orders unless review is authorized by statute. Qwest Commc’ns Corp. v. AT & T Corp., 24 S.W.3d 334, 336 (Tex.2000) (per curiam). Helix contends that we have jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal because the trial court’s order is a temporary injunction. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. 51.014(a)(4) (West Supp.2014) (authorizing an interlocutory appeal from an order granting a temporary injunction). We agree.

Although styled as an order granting a motion to compel, “it is the character and function of an order that determine its classification.” Del Valle Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Lopez, 845 S.W.2d 808, 809 (Tex.1992). An injunction may be prohibitive or mandatory. RP & R, Inc. v. Territo, 32 S.W.3d 396, 400 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2000, no pet.). A prohibitive injunction forbids certain conduct, whereas a mandatory injunction re[43]*43quires certain conduct. Id. Thus, an interlocutory order that “directs the conduct of a party” is a mandatory injunction. See Del Valle Indep. Sch. Dist., 845 S.W.2d at 809.

Howard nevertheless asserts that “[a] pretrial order compelling the provision of maintenance and cure is not a form of injunctive relief; it is a unique remedy afforded under the general maritime law to seam[e]n who are injured or fall ill while in the service of a vessel.” In support of this assertion, he cites two cases: Billiot v. Toups Marine Transport, Inc., 465 F.Supp. 1265 (E.D.La.1979) and Sanfilippo v. Rosa S. Inc., Civ. A. No. 85-3915-Me, 1985 WL 4565 (D.Mass. Dec. 9, 1985). Not only do these cases fail to support Howard’s position, but in each, the court denied the “motion to compel” and pointed out that there is no provision for such pretrial relief.2 In other cases, however, federal courts have determined entitlement to the remedy of maintenance and cure using a motion-to-compel procedure.3

We need not decide whether or under what circumstances a motion to compel is an available procedure for deciding a maintenance-and-cure claim in federal court under general maritime law. In state court actions — even those applying federal maritime law — state procedural laws and rules apply. See 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1) (2012); Am. Dredging Co. v. Miller, 510 U.S. 443, 453, 114 S.Ct. 981, 988, 127 L.Ed.2d 285 (1994) (“Uniformity of process ... is assuredly not what the law of admiralty seeks to achieve, since it is supposed to apply in all the courts of the world.”); In re GlobalSanteFe Corp., 275 S.W.3d 477, 485 (Tex.2008) (orig. proceeding) (“[F]ed-eral maritime law follows a ‘reverse Erie’ doctrine of sorts, employing the use of substantive federal maritime law in state courts but recognizing that state procedural law can be followed.”); Mar. Overseas Corp. v. Ellis, 971 S.W.2d 402, 406 (Tex.1998) (“When a state court hears an admiralty case, that court occupies essentially the same position occupied by a federal court sitting in diversity: the state court must apply substantive federal maritime law but follow state procedure.”).

Whether a claim for maintenance and cure may be decided by the court on a motion to compel is a procedural question, not a matter of substantive federal maritime law that would preempt contrary state procedure. See Perry v. Allied Off[44]*44shore Marine Corp., 618 So.2d 1033, 1036 (La.Ct.App.1993). Accordingly, using Texas procedural law to determine the nature and validity of the trial court’s maintenance-and-cure order in this case will not “work material prejudice to a characteristic feature of maritime law.” See In re GlobalSantaFe Corp., 275 S.W.3d at 489.

Howard has not cited, and we have not found, any provision of Texas procedural law authorizing a litigant to obtain “an interlocutory order on the merits” from a state court while avoiding both the rules governing summary judgments and those governing injunctive relief. Because the interlocutory order in this case requires Helix to perform certain actions— specifically, to make continuing payments to Howard — it is a classic example of a mandatory injunction. See Qwest Commc’ns Corp., 24 S.W.3d at 336 (“The trial court’s order here commands Qwest to undertake certain monitoring and notice provisions when conducting certain boring operations. Thus, the order is an injunction.”); RP & R, Inc., 32 S.W.3d at 400 (“The temporary injunction in this case is mandatory because it requires [appellant] to pay weekly paychecks to appellee.”). We accordingly conclude that we have jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
452 S.W.3d 40, 2014 WL 5898375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/helix-energy-solutions-group-inc-v-howard-texapp-2014.