Parekh v. Argonautica Shipping Invs. B.V.

295 F. Supp. 3d 707
District Court, E.D. Louisiana·Decided January 8, 2018·No. CIVIL ACTION NO. 16–13731; c/w 16–14729·Published

Opinion

SUSIE MORGAN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Before the Court are two motions for partial summary judgment by Defendant Weber Marine, L.L.C.1 The first motion involves Plaintiff Nayana Ambarish Parekh's claim for loss of support in her general maritime wrongful death action and the computation of Decedent Captain Ambarish Parekh's work-life expectancy.2 The second motion involves Plaintiff's claim for damages for loss of society on behalf of Captain Parekh's adult children and minor grandchildren.3 The motions are opposed.4 Defendant Weber Marine, L.L.C. filed replies to Plaintiff's oppositions.5 For the reasons that follow, the motions are GRANTED .

BACKGROUND

The complaint alleges that on July 17, 2016, Captain Ambarish Ramnikari Parekh, a marine cargo surveyor employed by Maritech Commercial, Inc., was scheduled to board the M/V AFRICAN RAPTOR to perform port captaincy survey services while the vessel was moored in the Mississippi River.6 While attempting to board the M/V AFRICAN RAPTOR from the M/V MISS RACHEL, Captain Parekh *709fell into the river.7 Captain Parekh's body was recovered in the Mississippi River on July 19, 2016, wearing the uninflated personal flotation device he was wearing when he fell.8

Nayana Ambarish Parekh, Captain Parekh's spouse, filed a complaint in this Court on August 9, 2016, individually and as personal representative of Captain Parekh.9 In addition to causes of action for negligence and strict product liability,10 Plaintiff pursues a wrongful death action under general maritime law.11 Plaintiff alleges she "has suffered loss of consortium, society, and financial support, for which [she] is entitled to damages[.]"12 During discovery, Plaintiff clarified that she seeks damages for herself and on behalf of all Captain Parekh's beneficiaries, including their adult children Siddharth Parekh and Sandeep Parekh, and their grandchildren Rajveer, Moksh, Tara, and Trisha.13

Defendant Weber filed these motions for partial summary judgment on November 28, 2017.14 In the first motion,15 Weber seeks a ruling limiting the Plaintiff's lost-wages recovery to "an amount commensurate with the Bureau of Labor Statistics-published work-life expectancy."16 Weber argues the "proper measure of time for assessing lost future wages is the statistical average for one's work-life expectancy," which, based on the calculations of Weber's expert witness, would be an additional 1.72 to 6.8 years beyond Captain Parekh's 67th birthday.17 In response, Plaintiff asserts Captain Parekh would have continued to work until his natural death, and so Plaintiff is entitled to recover lost wages consistent with his estimated life expectancy of 84.13 years.18

In the second motion,19 Weber seeks a judgment that only Ms. Parekh, as Captain Parekh's widow, may recover damages for loss of society.20 Weber contends damages for loss of society under general maritime law are available only to the dependent relatives of maritime employees. Accordingly, Weber asserts that Siddharth, Sandeep, Rajveer, Moksh, Tara, and Trisha, to the extent they are non-dependent relatives of Captain Parekh, are not entitled to loss-of-society damages.21

LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate only "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a *710matter of law."22 "An issue is material if its resolution could affect the outcome of the action."23 When assessing whether a material factual dispute exists, the Court considers "all of the evidence in the record but refrains from making credibility determinations or weighing the evidence."24 All reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the nonmoving party.25 There is no genuine issue of material fact if, even viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, no reasonable trier of fact could find for the nonmoving party, thus entitling the moving party to judgment as a matter of law.26

If the dispositive issue is one on which the moving party will bear the burden of persuasion at trial, the moving party "must come forward with evidence which would 'entitle it to a directed verdict if the evidence went uncontroverted at trial.' "27 If the moving party fails to carry this burden, the motion must be denied. If the moving party successfully carries this burden, the burden of production then shifts to the nonmoving party to direct the Court's attention to something in the pleadings or other evidence in the record setting forth specific facts sufficient to establish that a genuine issue of material fact does indeed exist.28

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Parekh v. Argonautica Shipping Invs. B.V., 295 F. Supp. 3d 707 (E.D. La. 2018).

295 F. Supp. 3d 707 (Parekh v. Argonautica Shipping Invs. B.V.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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