MacLay v. M/V Sahara

926 F. Supp. 2d 1209, 2013 A.M.C. 1017, 2013 WL 663023, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24796
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedFebruary 22, 2013
DocketCase No. C12-512-RSM
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 926 F. Supp. 2d 1209 (MacLay v. M/V Sahara) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MacLay v. M/V Sahara, 926 F. Supp. 2d 1209, 2013 A.M.C. 1017, 2013 WL 663023, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24796 (W.D. Wash. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER ON PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTIONS

RICARDO S. MARTINEZ, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment (Dkt. # 69), and Defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment (Dkt. # 71). Plaintiff brought this maritime survival and wrongful death suit against the M/V SAHARA and G Shipping after the death of her daughter, Lia Hawkins. Ms. Hawkins was an employee of G Shipping, the owner of the M/V SAHARA (the Vessel). The Vessel is a former oceanographic research vessel that G Shipping purchased for conversion into a luxury floating hotel. Plaintiff alleges that Ms. Hawkins died after falling from the Vessel. Plaintiff now moves for summary judgment on Ms. Hawkins’ maritime worker status; the mode, manner, and cause of her death; and moves to strike Defendants’ affirmative defenses. Defendants move for a summary judgment determination that Ms. Hawkins’ family members are barred from recovering loss-of-society damages under applicable law. For the reasons stated below, Plaintiffs motion is GRANTED in PART and DENIED in PART, and Defendants’ motion is GRANTED in PART and DENIED in PART.

BACKGROUND

G Shipping is a foreign corporation organized under the laws of Malta. Its principal, Emanuele Garosci, is an Italian national and developer and designer of luxury hotels. Mr. Garosci acquired ownership of the 300-foot, former research Vessel in 2009, intending to convert it to a luxury floating hotel. He hired Ms. Hawkins and a handful of other individuals to pursue the conversion project. Ms. Hawkins was initially hired to perform clerical and administrative duties shore-side, but her office was moved onto the Vessel a short time later. Ms. Hawkins routinely engaged in general labor to assist in the conversion process. She engaged in heavy cleaning and disposing of scrap metal. Plaintiff contends that roughly fifty percent of Ms. Hawkins’ daily activities concerned general labor.

On October 21, 2010, Ms. Hawkins disappeared from the Vessel. The next day, divers discovered her body under the adjacent dock. She was clothed in work coveralls and had a work glove on one hand. Plaintiff contends that Ms. Hawkins was throwing scrap metal off of an unprotected area of the Vessel’s upper deck when she fell, hit her head, and then drowned a conscious death.

At the time of Lia’s death, the conversion project was substantially incomplete. [1214]*1214The Vessel had not received stability letters nor had it been classed by a society. Millions of dollars worth of work remained to be conducted before the Vessel could be returned to service.

Plaintiff Julie MacLay, Lia’s mother, filed suit on behalf of Lia’s estate to foreclose a preferred maritime tort lien against the Vessel in rem, and against both the Vessel and G Shipping for compensatory and punitive damages. The Court granted Plaintiffs motion to arrest the vessel and appointed a substitute custodian on March 26, 2012. Dkt. ## 6, 7. On October 17, 2012, 2012 WL 5034422, the Court granted three discovery-related motions made by Plaintiff and sanctioned G Shipping for discovery-related abuse. Dkt. # 48. Trial is set for April 8, 2013.

DISCUSSION

A. Legal Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate where “the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In ruling on summary judgment, a court does not weigh evidence to determine the truth of the matter, but “only determined whether there is a genuine issue for trial.” Crane v. Conoco, Inc., 41 F.3d 547, 549 (9th Cir.1994) (citing Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. O’Melveny & Myers, 969 F.2d 744, 747 (9th Cir.1992)). Material facts are those which might affect the outcome of the suit under governing law. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

The Court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. See O’Melveny & Myers, 969 F.2d at 747, rev’d on other grounds, 512 U.S. 79, 114 S.Ct. 2048, 129 L.Ed.2d 67 (1994). However, the nonmoving party must make a “sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of proof’ to survive summary judgment. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

B. Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment

Plaintiff moves for summary judgment on Ms. Hawkins’ maritime worker status; the mode, manner, and cause of her death; and moves to strike Defendants’ affirmative defenses. The Court addresses each issue in turn.

1. Ms. Hawkins’ Maritime Worker Status

Plaintiff seeks a determination on summary judgment that Lia Hawkins was a harbor worker covered under the United States Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA”), 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq., and not a “seaman” under the Jones Act. Defendant, however, contends she was a Jones Act seaman. The Jones Act provides a remedy for any “seaman” injured “in the course of his employment.” 46 U.S.C.App. § 688. Seaman status is a mixed question of law and fact, but summary judgment is appropriate if the facts and law support only one conclusion. Delange v. Dutra Const. Co., Inc., 183 F.3d 916, 919 (9th Cir.1999).

A plaintiff has seaman status if (1) his duties contribute to the function of the vessel or the accomplishment of its mission, and (2) he has a connection to a vessel in navigation that is substantial both in duration and nature. Id. (citations omitted) (emphasis added). Both prongs must be satisfied to support a finding of seaman status. Here, the dispositive issue is whether the M/V SAHARA was a vessel [1215]*1215“in navigation” at the time of Lia’s death. In McKinley v. All Alaskan Seafoods, Inc., the court held that a ship idled for major repairs and unusable for its intended purpose is not “in navigation.” 980 F.2d 567, 571-72 (9th Cir.1992). There, the vessel was undergoing an extensive conversion from an oil drill ship to a seagoing fish and crab processing ship when Mr. McKinley was killed in a fire. Although the vessel had undergone stability testing, it was never granted a stability letter. Thus, the vessel was “not seaworthy at the time of [his] death.” Id. at 569. In upholding the district court’s grant of summary judgment, the court discussed three factors relevant to whether the vessel was “in navigation.” First, courts evaluate the purpose for which the vessel has been idled.

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Bluebook (online)
926 F. Supp. 2d 1209, 2013 A.M.C. 1017, 2013 WL 663023, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24796, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maclay-v-mv-sahara-wawd-2013.