Masterson v. Epic Divers, Inc.

804 F. Supp. 869, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19347, 1992 WL 312440
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedDecember 16, 1992
DocketCiv. A. 91-3110
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 804 F. Supp. 869 (Masterson v. Epic Divers, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Masterson v. Epic Divers, Inc., 804 F. Supp. 869, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19347, 1992 WL 312440 (E.D. La. 1992).

Opinions

RULING ON MOTION

LIVAUDAIS, District Judge.

Defendant has filed a motion for summary judgment asking this Court to declare that plaintiff does not qualify for seaman status under the Jones Act (46 U.S.C.App. § 688). Plaintiff opposes the motion and requests that the Court, sua sponte, grant summary judgment in his favor, finding that he is a seaman as a matter of law.

A. Factual Background

At some time in 1989, defendant contracted with Chevron Oil Company to remove abandoned Chevron pipelines buried in the floors of Timbalier and Buras Bays. Defendant removed the pipelines from June 22, 1989 until September 1, 1989. Plaintiff began working for defendant on June 22, 1989 and was assigned as a diver to the pipeline removal project. Plaintiffs first assignment, during the week of June 22-June 28, involved diving from a self-propelled barge in Buras Bay. Plaintiffs next assignment lasted from June 29 until September 1. During that time, plaintiff worked as a diver from three separate barges in Timbalier Bay. He suffered a severe knee injury during a dive from one of the three barges on July 23. On two occasions, one in July and one in August, plaintiff was called away from Timbalier Bay to perform diving services at Avondale Shipyard. In July, plaintiff dove from a small boat, while in August he dove from a land-based ladder. Plaintiff completed his duties at Timbalier Bay in September 1989. In October 1989, plaintiff worked from four different barges, each owned by a different company, at four different locations. From November 1989 until the Fall of 1990, plaintiff worked primarily from an LL & G barge at Bully Camp.

Defendant did not own, charter, manage, or control any vessels during the time in which it employed plaintiff. The vessels off of which plaintiff worked were owned by different companies and customers of defendant.

B. Procedural Analysis

Historically, the Fifth Circuit recognized that “[sjeaman status is generally a question for the jury. Only in rare cases is the question taken from the jury or trier of facts.” Wallace v. Oceaneering Intern., 727 F.2d 427, 432 (5th Cir.1984). However, “summary judgment is proper in cases where the underlying facts are undisputed and the record reveals no evidence from which reasonable persons could draw conflicting inferences.” Lirette v. N.L. Sperry Sun, Inc., 831 F.2d 554, 555 (5th Cir.1987).

Thus, we have held that “where the facts establish beyond question as a matter of law [the lack of seaman status] ... a court ... may, in the proper case, hold [870]*870that there is no reasonable evidentiary basis to support a jury finding that the injured person is a seaman ... under the Jones Act.”

Barrett v. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc., 781 F.2d 1067, 1074 (5th Cir.1986) (alteration in original) (citations omitted). As explained in the analysis of seaman status below, this Court finds that no evidentiary basis exists to support a finding that plaintiff in the instant case is a seaman. Despite plaintiffs contention to the contrary, the facts in this case are not in dispute. Instead, the dispute surrounds the legal conclusions that this Court must draw from those facts.

The court wishes to preface its analysis of seaman status by noting that plaintiff has understandably read the case law as favoring his position, and defendant has understandably read the case law as favoring its position. The collective Fifth Circuit jurisprudence in the area of seaman status seems to draw some fine lines in determining who qualifies as a seaman and who does not. After an exhaustive review of all of the relevant law, and after examining the direction in which the Fifth Circuit has moved in this area, this Court believes that it has no choice but to grant defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and thereby conclude as a matter of law, that plaintiff is not a seaman under the Jones Act.

C. Seaman Status

“An injured worker attains seaman status by proving: (i) permanent attachment to or substantial work on a vessel or an identifiable fleet of vessels; and (ii) contribution to the function or mission of the vessel or an identifiable fleet of vessels.” Bach v. Trident Steamship Co., Inc., 920 F.2d 322, 324 (5th Cir.), vacated, — U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 2253, 114 L.Ed.2d 706, modified, 947 F.2d 1290 (5th Cir.1991).

In examining the first criterion, the facts of this case clearly show that plaintiff was neither permanently attached to nor did he perform a substantial amount of work on a single vessel. The issue, therefore, is whether or not plaintiff performed substantial work on an identifiable fleet of vessels. The Fifth Circuit defined “identifiable fleet” in Barrett v. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc., 781 F.2d 1067, 1074 (5th Cir.1986):

In this case, we consider the duration of the employee’s assignment necessary to support submission to a jury of the question whether he performed a substantial portion of his duties aboard a vessel or fleet of vessels. By fleet we mean an identifiable group of vessels acting together or under one control. We reject the notion that fleet of vessels in this context means any group of vessels an employee happens to work aboard. Unless fleet is given its ordinary meaning, the fundamental distinction between members of a crew and transitory maritime workers such as longshoremen is totally obliterated.

The Court now considers whether plaintiff performed a substantial amount of his duties aboard an identifiable group of vessels acting together or under one control. In order to decide that issue, the Court must first determine the time frame in which to measure a “substantial” amount. If, as plaintiff contends, the relevant time frame includes only the three uninterrupted periods during 1989 (June 22-July 16; July 23-August 9; August 27-September 1) when plaintiff worked off of Chevron-owned vessels, then a jury question would exist as to whether plaintiff spent a “substantial” amount of time on those vessels. However, if the relevant time frame includes plaintiff’s entire period of employment with defendant, the law dictates that plaintiff does not qualify as a Jones Act seaman.

This Court chooses to adopt the latter approach based on its reading of Barrett. That court noted that “if the employee’s regularly assigned duties require him to divide his time between vessel and land (or platform) his status as a crew member is determined in the context of his entire employment’ with his current employer.” Id. at 1075 (citations omitted). The record indicates that plaintiff’s duties required such a division of his time (plaintiff’s deposition transcript, p. 72): .

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Related

Miller v. INTERN. DIVING & CONSULTING SERV., INC.
669 So. 2d 1246 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)
Masterson v. Epic Divers, Inc.
804 F. Supp. 869 (E.D. Louisiana, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
804 F. Supp. 869, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19347, 1992 WL 312440, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/masterson-v-epic-divers-inc-laed-1992.