Opinion ID: 3023556
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Location Test

Text: “A court applying the location test must determine whether the tort occurred on navigable water or whether injury suffered on land was caused by a vessel on navigable water.” Grubart, 513 U.S. at 534. The tortious act at issue is Sinochem’s alleged misrepresentations to the Chinese Admiralty Court that MISC backdated the bill of lading. Sinochem contends that because (1) these alleged misrepresentations occurred on land and (2) no injury was suffered on land caused by a vessel on navigable water, the location test is not met. We agree with Sinochem as to its second argument, but the resolution of whether the tort here occurred on land or on navigable water is not so clear cut.11 In determining whether the tort occurred on navigable water, we consider the 11 We note that a tort need not have occurred in waters under the jurisdiction of the United States for us to exercise admiralty jurisdiction. See, e.g., Neely, 63 F.3d at 170, 179 (finding admiralty jurisdiction over a claim arising out of an accident that occurred in coastal waters off St. Lucia, an independent country). 13 meaning of “tort” as used in the locality test.12 In other words, is the tort only the alleged tortious act itself (here, the making of the alleged misrepresentations), or is it the alleged tortious act as well as the resulting injury? The Supreme Court has indicated the latter. In Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. City of Cleveland, 409 U.S. 249 (1972), the Court noted that “[u]nder the locality test, the tort ‘occurs’ where the alleged negligence took effect . . . .” Id. at 266 (describing problems with the traditional location test—which did not require that a connection with maritime activity must exist before admiralty jurisdiction is found). That statement was based on the Court’s prior holding that “the whole, or at least the substantial cause of action, arising out of the wrong, must be complete within the locality on which the [admiralty] jurisdiction depends—on the high seas or navigable waters.” The Plymouth, 70 U.S. (3 Wall.) 20, 36 (1866) (emphasis added).13 12 “Locality,” as well as “situs,” are used interchangeably with “location” in referring to the test or requirement. 13 The application of that rule in The Plymouth led to the Court’s holding that—when a vessel anchored beside a wharf on the Chicago River caught fire (due to the negligence of those in charge of it) and the flames then spread to the wharf, destroying all the goods stored in the packing-houses there—there was no admiralty jurisdiction because, although the negligence occurred on navigable water, the injury occurred on land. 70 U.S. (3 Wall.) at 36. The effect of this result was later negated by the 14 Our Court has never addressed this issue, but our sister Courts of Appeals that have considered it have adopted what the Fifth Circuit has termed an “impact analysis,” Kuehne & Nagel (AG & Co.) v. Geosource, Inc., 874 F.2d 283, 288 (5th Cir. 1989), for determining where a tort occurred under the location test. Under that analysis, the place where a tort occurs is the place where the injury occurs. See id. (collecting cases) (holding that admiralty jurisdiction did not exist in a case alleging fraudulent inducement to enter a shipping contract because both the fraudulent inducement and the resulting injury occurred on land);14 see also Taghadomi v. United States, 401 Extension of Admiralty Jurisdiction Act, which created the second part of the location test by providing that “the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States shall extend to and include all cases of damage or injury, to person or property, caused by a vessel on navigable water, notwithstanding that such damage or injury be done or consummated on land.” Extension of Admiralty Jurisdiction Act, ch. 526, 62 Stat. 496, 496 (1948). Thus, for a particular class of cases—those with facts similar to The Plymouth—Congress has shifted the focus of the location test from where the injury occurred to where the injury was caused. 14 In Kuehne & Nagle, the Fifth Circuit provided several examples of when the location test is met under the “impact analysis,” stating: This court has applied the “impact” analysis in several 15 F.3d 1080, 1084 (9th Cir. 2005) (rejecting argument that the location test was not satisfied where the Coast Guard’s alleged failure to act occurred entirely on land, but the resulting injury occurred on navigable waters, because it “ignore[d] the clear law of [that] circuit that the situs of a tort for the purpose of determining admiralty jurisdiction is the place where the injury occurs”); Florio v. Olson, 129 F.3d 678, 680 (1st Cir. 1997) (“In order to satisfy the ‘location’ or ‘situs’ requirement, a party must show either that the injury occurred on navigable water or that the injury was caused by a vessel on navigable water.” (first emphasis added)). This comports with Executive Jet Aviation and The Plymouth and also with our view of the meaning of “tort” in the situations. We found situs present where a gun was fired from land, but the bullet struck and injured a poacher on a vessel. Situs was also satisfied where the components of a ship’s navigational system, negligently manufactured on land, caused a collision on the high seas. And we found the situs element established where workers who contracted asbestosis were exposed to asbestos both on land and on vessels lying in navigable waters. 874 F.2d at 288 (citations omitted). 16 context of our case. A tort claim is not complete until both a tortious act and an injury have occurred. Put another way, “negligence, of itself, furnishes no cause of action, it is damnum absque injuria [damage without injury].” The Plymouth, 70 U.S. (3 Wall.) at 36. Accordingly, we too adopt the rule that, for purposes of the location test, a tort occurs where the alleged tortious act takes effect. Applying that rule here, we conclude easily that the test is met. The injury resulting from Sinochem’s alleged misrepresentations to the Chinese Admiralty Court was the seizure of the Vessel at a port in China. That the seizure occurred on navigable waters is undisputed. Thus, the District Court’s determination that, “[a]s the seizure occurred on navigable water, at a port in China, [MISC]’s complaint satisfies the locality prong” is correct. We therefore turn to whether the alleged tort bears a sufficient connection to maritime activity to warrant the exercise of admiralty jurisdiction.