Waddell v. Edison Chouest Offshore

93 F. Supp. 3d 714, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34816, 2015 WL 1285718
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedMarch 20, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. G-14-170
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 93 F. Supp. 3d 714 (Waddell v. Edison Chouest Offshore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Waddell v. Edison Chouest Offshore, 93 F. Supp. 3d 714, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34816, 2015 WL 1285718 (S.D. Tex. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER OF REMAND

MELINDA HARMON, District Judge.

The above referenced cause, alleging negligence and gross negligence and seeking damages under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 30104, general maritime law, and the “saving to suitors clause,” 28. U.S.C. § 1333, for injuries Plaintiff Tyrell Waddell (“Waddell”) allegedly suffered when he was electrocuted by a defective electrical relay while working in navigable waters on board a vessel owned by Defendant Edison Chouest Offshore (“ESO”)1 and operated by Chevron USA, Inc. (“Chevron”), was filed on April 6, 2014, served on Chevron on April 24, 2014, and removed from the 56th District Court of Galveston County, Texas by Chevron on May 22, 2014. Pending before the Court is Wad-dell’s motion to remand (instrument # 8).

It is undisputed that this action was timely removed within thirty days after the suit was commenced in Texas state court and that the Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011 was then in effect.

Standard of Review

“ ‘Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction’”; they possess “‘only that power authorized by Constitution and by statute.’ ” Cunn v. Minton, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 1059, 1064, 185 L.Ed.2d 72 (2013), quoting Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America, 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994). Under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a) any state court action over which • federal courts would have original jurisdiction may be removed from state to federal court. Gasch v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., 491 F.3d 278, 282 (5th Cir.2007); Gutierrez v. Flores, 543 F.3d 248, 251 (5th Cir.2008) (“A district court has removal jurisdiction in any case where it has original jurisdiction.”). The original jurisdiction for purposes of removal may be federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331-(“The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.”) or diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) (where there is complete diversity of citizenship between the sides and the amount in controversy exceeds the sum of $75,000.00, excluding interest and costs).2

[716]*716The right to remove depends upon the plaintiffs pleading at the time of the petition for removal. Pullman Co. v. Jenkins, 305 U.S. 534, 537-38, 59 S.Ct. 347, 83 L.Ed. 334 (1939); Cavallini v. State Farm Mutual Auto Ins., 44 F.3d 256, 264 (5th Cir.1995); Ford v. Property & Cas. Ins. Co. of Hartford, No. Civ. A. H-09-1731, 2009 WL 4825222, *2 (S.D.Tex. Dec. 9, 2009).

The removing party bears the burden of showing that subject matter jurisdiction exists and that removal was proper. Manguno v. Prudential Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 276 F.3d 720, 723 (5th Cir.2002). Because removal deprives the state court of an action properly before it, removal raises significant federalism concerns and the statute is therefore to be strictly construed, with any doubt about the propriety of removal resolved in favor of remand. Gutierrez v. Flores, 543 F.3d 248, 251 (5th Cir.2008).

Applicable Law

Up Until January 6, 2012

Title 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1) provides, “The district courts shall have original jurisdiction, exclusive of the courts of the States, of ... [a]ny civil case of admiralty or maritime jurisdiction, saving to suitors in all cases all other remedies to which they are otherwise entitled.” “Federal admiralty jurisdiction exists giving a court jurisdiction over a dispute if the tort occurs on navigable waters3 and the tort bears a significant relationship to traditional maritime activity.” Sanders v. Placid Oil Co., 861 F.2d 1374, 1376-77 (5th Cir.1988), citing Foremost Ins. Co. v. [717]*717Richardson, 457 U.S. 668, 674, 102 S.Ct. 2654, 73 L.Ed.2d 300 (1982). “[A] party seeking to invoke federal admiralty jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1) over a tort claim must satisfy conditions both of location and connection with maritime activity.” Jerome B. Grubart, Inc. v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 513 U.S. 527, 534, 115 S.Ct. 1043, 130 L.Ed.2d 1024 (1995), cited by Venable v. Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp., 740 F.3d 937, 944 (5th Cir.2013).4 For the first prong, the court asks whether the tort occurred on navigable waters or whether injury suffered on land was caused by a vessel on navigable water. Id., id. For the connection prong, the court examines “ ‘the general features of the type of incident involved,’ to determine whether the incident has ‘a potentially disruptive impact on maritime commerce’” and determines “whether the general character of the activity giving rise to the incident shows a substantial relationship to maritime activity.” Id. [citations omitted]; id.

Traditionally a plaintiff had three possible options for bringing an admiralty or maritime claim: he could bring his suit in admiralty jurisdiction in federal court under the grant of original and exclusive subject matter jurisdiction under § 1333, typically with no right to trial by jury; he could bring a diversity of citizenship claim in a federal district court, with the right to a jury if one party demands it, and he could limit that jurisdiction with a binding forum-selection clause; or he could assert his claim at law (at common law), grounded in tort or contract, under the saving to suitors clause in a state court.5 See 14A Charles Alan Wright, et al., Federal Practice and Procedure § 3672 (3d ed.1998).

Also traditionally, the saving to suitors clause referenced in § 1333(1) was interpreted to allow a plaintiff to file admiralty and maritime actions with claims “at law,” otherwise exclusively within the jurisdiction of the federal courts in state court. Baris v. Sulpicio Lines, Inc., 932 F.2d 1540, 1542 (5th Cir.1991), citing 1 S. Friedell, Benedict On Admiralty, § 122 (6th ed.1991).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
93 F. Supp. 3d 714, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34816, 2015 WL 1285718, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/waddell-v-edison-chouest-offshore-txsd-2015.