Opinion ID: 665853
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: ARCO's Jury Demand

Text: 9 The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure preserve a party's right to demand a jury trial if such right stems from the Seventh Amendment or a federal statute. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 38(a). Plaintiff contends that ARCO had a right to demand a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment and pursuant to the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.App. Sec. 688, and that she had the right to rely on such demand under Federal Rule 39(a)(1). 1
10 The Seventh Amendment preserves a party's right to a jury trial as it existed at common law. See U.S. Const. amend. VII. Since there was no common law right to a jury trial in admiralty cases, the Seventh Amendment does not apply to suits that invoke only a federal court's admiralty jurisdiction. Waring v. Clarke, 46 U.S. (5 How.) 441, 460, 12 L.Ed. 226 (1847). 11 The Jones Act, however, confers a statutory right to a jury trial. The Act provides that any seaman who shall suffer personal injury in the course of his employment may, at his election, maintain an action for damages at law, with the right of trial by jury.... 46 U.S.C.App. Sec. 688. Plaintiff could have demanded a jury trial had she made her demand within 10 days of serving her complaint. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 38(b). Since plaintiff made no such demand, we must decide whether the Jones Act confers a similar right on a defendant. 12 The Fifth Circuit has held that in actions where a federal court's sole basis for jurisdiction is under the Jones Act, only the plaintiff has a right to demand a jury trial. See Rachal v. Ingram Corp., 795 F.2d 1210 (5th Cir.1986); Linton v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 964 F.2d 1480, 1489 n. 16 (5th Cir.) (citing Rachal ), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 467, 121 L.Ed.2d 375 (1992). We agree. The plain language of the Jones Act gives a plaintiff the option of maintaining an action at law with the accompanying right to a jury trial. The Act makes no mention of a defendant. 2
13 Plaintiff also argues that even if ARCO did not have a right to demand a jury trial under the Jones Act, ARCO had a Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial because the district court had diversity jurisdiction over the parties pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1332. We have held that where a federal court has an independent basis of jurisdiction over cases involving admiralty claims, such as diversity of citizenship, both the defendant and plaintiff have a right to demand a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment so long as the suit is one that could traditionally have been brought at common law. See Wilmington Trust v. U.S. Dist. Court, 934 F.2d 1026 (9th Cir.1991) (holding that defendant had right to jury trial in admiralty case where defendant alleged counterclaims for which there were independent bases of jurisdiction), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1578, 118 L.Ed.2d 220 (1992); Owens-Illinois, Inc. v. United States Dist. Court, 698 F.2d 967, 971-72 (9th Cir.1983). 14 The district court ruled that under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1332(c)(2), 3 plaintiff is deemed a resident of California by virtue of her husband's residence there. Since ARCO, Brinkerhoff and Crowley have principal places of business in California, the district court ruled that diversity was absent. Even if plaintiff is correct that she should be attributed Singaporean citizenship due to the fact that the case was commenced prior to the 1988 amendment to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1332(c)(2), 4 complete diversity did not exist at the time ARCO made its jury demand. At that stage in the proceedings, the case involved a single foreign plaintiff (assuming plaintiff is considered a citizen of Singapore) and numerous foreign defendants (in addition to U.S. defendants), thereby defeating diversity. See Faysound Ltd. v. United Coconut Chemicals, 878 F.2d 290, 294-95 (9th Cir.1989) (presence of foreign plaintiff and foreign defendants defeats diversity). 15 ARCO did not have a right to demand a jury trial under the Jones Act or the Seventh Amendment.