Thursday, May 15, 2014

Eleventh Circuit issues fractured 1-1-1 opinion today

Judge Pryor for the majority frames the issue this way: "This appeal requires us to decide whether a seaman can recover money damages under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 30104, for an injury stemming from excessive work hours and an erratic sleep schedule."  He then reverses, and renders judgment in favor of Maersk "because Skye’s complaint of an injury caused by work-related stress is not cognizable under the Jones Act, which concerns injuries caused by physical perils."

Judge Fay concurs, but asks the Supreme Court to jump in:  "Most respectfully, my hope is that the Supreme Court will revisit this area of the law. As Justice Ginsburg stated in her dissent in Gottshall: “Instead of the restrictive ‘zone’ test that leaves severely harmed workers remediless, however negligent their employers, the appropriate FELA claim threshold should be keyed to the genuineness and gravity of the worker’s injury.” Gottshall, 512 U.S. at 572, 114 S. Ct. at 2419 (Ginsburg, J., dissenting)."

And Judge Jordan dissents: "Congress enacted the Jones Act “for the benefit and protection of seamen who are peculiarly the wards of admiralty.” Atl. Sounding Co. v. Townsend, 557 U.S. 404, 417 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). Given that purpose, and absent definitive indication from the Supreme Court, I would not read the Jones Act to preclude liability for an employer who makes a seaman work so hard and so continuously that he suffers physical injury in the form of heart disease, heart attack, organ failure, seizure, or stroke."

Which side are you on?


6 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:44 AM

    I don't care what the issue is, between Pryor and Jordan, I will take Jordan 100% of the time.

    Seems to me that Pryor has never met a criminal defendant or injured plaintiff that he didn't want to rule against.

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  2. Anonymous1:34 PM

    Team 'Berto!!

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  3. Anonymous1:35 PM

    Mona wrote this. Obviously .

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  4. Anonymous1:59 PM

    pryor is right on this one. every seaman could raise a claim like this otherwise. not what the statute intended.

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